(The) influence on some of the foremost English poets writing from 1800 to 1820 of Wordsworths̓ nature philosophy as expressed and exemplified in his "Lyrical ballads" .

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BOSTON UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE SCHOOL

THESIS

THE INFLUEITCE ON SOI.IE OF THE FOREMOST EI-IGLISH
POETS WRITING PROM 1800 TO 1820 OF WORDSV/ORTH'
NATURE PHILOSOPHY AS EXPRESSED AND EXEMPLIFIED
IN HIS "LYRICAL BALLADS"

BY

GERALD BECKLEY WOODRUFF
(A.B. , AMHERST;^ 1926)

Submitted in partial
requirements for
Master of
1932a

fulfilment of the
the degree of
Art s .

r

t A

I.

The Influence on Some of the Foremost English Poets
Writing from 1800 to 1820 of Wordsworth's Nature
Philosophy as Expressed and Exemplified in His
"Lyrical Ballads".

OUTLINE PAGES

Introduction 1

A. Wordsworth, "high priest of nature" 1

Purpose of Paper 1

C« Nature poetry of Wordsworth's predecessors 2

!• Middle Ages 2

2. Elizabethan and Puritan Ages 3

3« Dryden and Pope 3

4« James Thomson 4

5« Edward Young 4

6. William Collins 5

7« Thomas Gray 5

8. George Crabhe 6

9. Robert Burns 6

10. William Blake 6

11. William Cowper 8

12. S\immary of nature feeling before Wordsworth 10
D« Wordsworth's nature philosophy 11

1« Preface to "Lyrical Ballads" 11

2. Poems quoted and discussed 12

3« V/ordsworth's distinctive qualities 15

4« Critical opinion quoted bearing on merits

and influence of "Lyrical Ballads" 16

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II

PAGES

II. Body of disquisition 18

A» Samuel Taylor Coleridge 18

1» Collaboration of Wordsworth and Coleridge on

lyrical Ballads" 18

2. Intimacy of the two poets 18

3« Consideration of Coleridge's poetry 18

4» Conclusions regarding Wordsworth's influence 21

B« George Gordon, Lord Byron 22

1. The year 1816 23

2. Consideration of Byron's poetry 25
3« Conclusions regarding V^ordsworth* s influence 30

C. Percy By s she Shelley 31

1« External evidence regarding Wordsworth's influence 31

2, Some differences between Shelley's and

Wordsworth's conception of nature 33

3« Consideration of Shelley's nature poetry 34

4. Siunriary and conclusions as to Wordsv/orth* s

influence 44

D« John Keats 44

1« Essential differences between Keats' and

Wordsworth's outlook on nature 44

2» Quotations and discussion showing fimdamental

differences 45

3 • Summary 47

E« James Henry Leigh Hunt 47

1. Hunt's enthusiasm for Wordsworth's poetry 47

2, Discussion of nature in Hunt's poetry 48
3o Conclusions regarding Wordsworth's influence 50

F. Sir Walter Scott 51

!• Scott's opinion of V/ordsworth ' s poetry 51

2. Tendencies in Scott's poetry, quotations 51

3» Divergence between Scott's philosophy of

nature and Wordsworth's 54

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PAGES

G Robert Southey 55

1. Southey* s critical opinion of 1/Vordsv/orth* s poetry 55

2« General character of Southey *s poetry 56

2» Examples and discussion of Southey 's conception 57
of nature

4« Conclusions regarding Wordsworth's Influence 60

H. John Wilson (Christopher North) 61

1. Wilson's full appreciation of Y/ordsv/orth» s nature

philosophy 61

2» Wilson's great enthusiasm for nature and possible

cause 62

3. Consideration of the similarity between Wilson's
nature philosophy and V/ordsworth' s and probable
Influence of Wordsworth. 63

III. Conclusion 69

A. Wordsv/orth' s nature philosophy distinguished from

that of his predecessors 69

B» Wordsworth's Influence or lack of Influence on poets

considered 70

C. Wordsworth's immediate influence on English poetry 72

V

The Influence on Some of the Foremost English Poets
Writing from 1800 to 1820 of \Vordsv/orth» s Nature
Philosophy as Expressed and Exemplified in His
"Lyrical Ballads"

INTRODUCTION

As an apostle of nature V/ordsworth stands foremost in the
field of English poetry. Neither among his predecessors nor among
his successors is there one to rival him in the profundity of
his conception of the natural world. Although he is a master in
describing external nature, it is in imbuing her with spirit-
uality and in discerning the essential unity of all living things
that he excels all others. Therein lies his especial glory, and
therein evidence of the loftiness of his inspiration and the
greatness of his creative imagination.

Although not fully appreciated by his early contemporaries,
Wordsworth has been recognized by posterity as the high priest
of nature, and his slender volume of poems containing the eseence
of his conceptions of nature, "Lyrical Ballads", has been
acclaimed the high water mark in English nature poetry. That
succeeding English poetry should be influenced by the emanations
of such a power is inevitable. This influence is noticeable in
the works of such poets as Emerson, Bryant, and V/hittier; it
pervades the v;ork of our modem poets who write about nature.
John Hall Wheelock, Conrad Aiken, Robert Frost, and William H.
Davies are a few who have expressed ideas about nature which are
almost Identical with thoughts contained in "Lyrical Ballads".

But in this paper I shall not try to point out V/ordsworth's

\ 1

influence on all succeeding English poetry; rather, I shall
attempt to determine the influence of his nature philosophy on
some of his contemporaries writing approximately between the
years 1800 and 1820# These dates are selected in view of the
following considerations: first, I wish to study a period, at
least part of which is not subject to the influence of Byron,
Shelley, and Keats; second, I wish to study Wordsworth's possible
influence on the three Romantic poets just mentioned; and third,
I wish to study the period immediately following the publication
of "Lyrical Ballads" o

In a study of this kind it is imperative that, before
trj'-ing to determine the influence of V/ordsworth's feeling for
nature on his contemporaries, we understand clearly in what
respects, if any, he differs from his predecessors. George Brandes
has said of him, "His predecessors have, no doubt, smoothed the
way for all that he had in common with them; but for v/hat is
peculiarly his own he is in the condition of Hannibal among the
Alps",* Once we know what is "peculiarly his own" we can proceed
with the study of his effects of these distinctive characteristics
on other poets.

As long as poetry is v/ritten nature will be a subject to
be treated. Prom the beginning of English poetry to the present
day we find evidence that sensitive souls of every age liave re-
corded, to a greater or a less extent, their reactions to natural
phenomena. Going back to the Middle Ages we find that Chaucer
and his contemporaries, although not primarily interested in
natiire, devoted many passages to her. These were generally

* Brandes, G.:"Main Currents in 19th Century Literature"-Vol. lv,p.53.

concerned with the broader, more general aspects of nature

such as the succession of the seasons, day and night, the heavenly

bodies, the movement of the ocean and the green grass of the

fields* Usually the details were ignored. Poets of this period,

as of our own, were moved to spontaneous expressions of joy by

pleasing aspects of nature. Thus Chaucer voices his happiness

at the approach of spring:

"Now we loom somer, v/ith thy sunne softe.
That hast this win t res weders over- shake.
And driven awey the longe nightes blakel^-

In the Elizabethan and Puritan Ages nature was treated
more freely than ever before. Here we have large, vivid paint-
ings of various natural scenes. Shakespeare and other
Elizabethan playwrights use these descriptions as background
for human action. Generally Milton does the same, although in
such poems as "L*Allegro" and "II Penseroso" nature is considered
more for her own sake.

The "age of reason", represented by Dryden, Pope, and
other Pseudo-classicists, supported an entirely different view-
point on nature. In this age nature which was not man-made,
or at least man-shaped, was considered vulgar and unrefined.
Well-ordered gardens or carefully clipped hedges might be praised,
but wild flowers growing in a field were beneath notice. Poets
of this period who wrote about nature at all gave an artificial
treatment of an artificially conceived subject. They derived
little inspiration from wild nature.

The seventy-five years follov/ing the end of Pope's work

*"The Parlement of Foules" - lines 690-G92.

saw a reaction against this over-refined attitude. During
these years poets, among whom were Thomson, Young, Collins, Gray,
Crabbe, Burns, Blake, and Cowper, were again turning to wild
nature as a source of material. This period, which is generally
called the rise of naturalism, was characterized by an emotional
enthusiasm for nature hitherto unknov/n in English poetry. It
began with James Thomson and culminated with Wordsworth and the
Romanticists*

As St op ford Brooke points out, Thomson, who was bom In
Roxburghshire and educated in Edinburgh, was undoubtedly
influenced by the vigorous if unspiritual nature poetry of
Scotland.* His "Seasons" (1726) deals with nature in a realistic
fashion. In these four poems Thomson records, in an affectionate
manner, the daily life and work of the plowman, the shepherd,
the farmer in his natural environment with its wild beauty.
He shows in the poems a love of nature for its own sake, without
reference to man. But in describing nature he endows it with
absolutely no spiritual significance; rather, he describes
externally the streams, woods, and hills as so many disconnected
items. In this respect there is nothing of the later romantic
spirit in his work.

Edward Young (1681-1765), writing somewhat later than
Thomson, produced a sentimental, melancholy brand of nature
poetry. In this respect he foreshadowed an unhealthy quality
found in the works of some of the later Romanticists, among
whose number Wordsworth is not to be found. Wordsworth's

^"Naturalism in English Poetry"

attitude toward nature is anything but melancholy; he reveals the
joyous and optimistic aspects of a personality filled with love and
good cheer •

William Collins (1721-1759), although retaining some of

the artificial diction of Dryden and Pope, wrote some charming

descriptions of nature which for their freshness and rapture

are unequalled until Wordsworth. We notice in Collins' poems

careful observation and, at times, subtle suggesbiveness; his

descriptions happily combine truth and idealism. Of his nature

poems the "Ode to Simplicity" and "Ode to Evening" are the finest

and most inspired, the latter being very near to the language

and sentiment of Keats:

"0 Nymph reserved, while now the bright-hair 'd sun
Sits in yon western tent, whose cloudy skirts.
With brede ethereal wove,
O'erhang his wavy bed."

The nature poetry of Thomas Gray (1716-1771) is much like
that of his contemporaries. He, perhaps, approaches it in a
more personal and sensitive way, but with him as with other
poets of the time we fail to find those high spiritual and
philosophic conceptions which elevate Wordsworth's poetry above
that of his predecessors. Nature is still considered as a back-
ground or ornamentation for human action. For instance, in
Gray's famous "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard", we learn
that it is late afternoon, the "glimmering landscape" is fading,
the beetle is wheeling his "droning flight", the "moping owl"
is complaining from "yonder ivy-mantled tower", the approaching
night invests everything with a "holy calm". It is evident from

these typical nature references that the subject of nature is
not considered as being important in itself j it is merely
incidental.

Two other important nature poets who immediately preceded
Wordsworth are Crabbe and Burns. Crabbe (1754-1332) paints a
harsh, stem nature; his scenes are low-lying, forbidding coasts,
or barren countryside. He finds nature unfriendly. In "The
Village" we see this as he describes the hostility of nature to
man, a pitiful creature, living in squalor and filth. His nature
descriptions are objective and realistic.

Robert Burns (1759-1796) saw nature in a different light.
He felt that nature was fundamentally kind. But although he
loved nature, he loved humanity more. Hence it is that in his
poetry natural objects are made to harmonize with humanity and
are introduced to tlirow light on his consideration of man. In
plowing he crushes a daisy; ho speaks as if he had crushed a
child, and thus slips out of close intimacy with nature to his
main interest, htimanity. His sorrow at having disturbed a field
mouse is short-lived as it gives rise to a philosophical
consideration of man.

"The best laid plans of mice and men goon aft aglee." And
so it is that although Bums treats nature sympathetically, he
does not sound the depths of her spiritual possibilities.

Although William Blake (1757-1327) is generally remembered
for his weird poems about the spiritual world, some of his best
and less obscure poetry contains passages showing a joyful
intimacy with nature and a thoughtful consideration for some of

her aspects. Swinburne, in speaking of the new Wordsworthian

school of poetry, says that it was "actually founded at midnight

by William Blake and fortified at sunrise by William V/ordsworth.'^

The statement, if somewhat extravagant, nevertheless has much

of truth in it« Blake catches, in some respects much of the

feeling for nature which impregnates the "Lyrical Ballads".

Especially noteworthy is his sympathetic understanding of the

living creatures of nature, and a feeling of kinship with them^

In "Song", (1783), the poet identifies himself with a bird. He

tells of his joyful life amid beautiful nature, of his capture

and confinement by man, and of his rage and unhappiness:

"He loves to sit and hear me sing;
Then, laughing, sports and plays with me;
Then stretches out ray golden wing.
And mocks my loss of liberty."

In another poem the writer iraiagines himself lying on the grass,

witnessing the life drama of an emmet which has lost his way.

So intimate and sensitive is the poet's feeling for nature, and

so acute his imagination, that he thinks he hears and understands

the conversation between the emmet and a glow-worm which makes

its appearance and directs the wanderer. Blake's poems are the

record of a super-imagination; and herein lies one great

difference between V/ordsworth and Blake. Wordsworth's philosophy

of nature is based on observation and contemplation; Blake's

is based mainly on imagination. From observation and contemplati

Wordsworth feels the existence of a conscious soul pervading

all nature, a soul which reveals a divine message. Blake, in

imagination, projects himself and his human emotional reactions

4* Halleck, R.p.: English Literature, p. 556.

f

into individual creatures of nature, such as the emmet and the

bird, and from so-doing he reads various lessons from them; but

he is not conscious of the e:?istence of that universal soul.

The last poet to be considered before coming to Wordsworth

is William Co\vper ( 1731-1800 )• Although not a great poet in

his spontaneous overflow of feelings, vital and original, if

not powerful, and in his real love of nature, Cowper anticipates

V/ordsworth« He feels a sense of kinship with all living

creatures and makes them his teachers and friends* In "The

Swallov;" he says:

"I am fond of the swallow- I learn from her flight;
Ead I skill to improve it a lesson of love*"

Running througji a good part of CoMi'per's greatest work, "The

Task", is a feeling for the flories of nature and the thought

that man is mostly truly happy and virtuous when closely

associated with her.

"God made the country, and man made the to^;m.
What wonder then, that health and virtue, gifts
That can alone make sweet the bitter draught
That life holds out to all, should most abound
And least be threatened in the fields and groves?"*

The soothing power of nature was keenly felt by Cov/per;

—"Scenes tliat soothed

Or claimed me young, no longer young, I feel
Still soothing, and of pov/er to claim me stlll."^**

and again:

"The spleen is seldom felt where Flora relgns*"'5Hc-x-
Here Cowper »s soul is soothed by "scenes" of nature, by the
sight of pleasant landscapes and bright flowers.

* "The Task" - Book I
** Ibid. - Book I

Ibid. - Book I

1

Rural sounds as well as sights influence the poet:

"Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds
Exhilarate the spirit, and restore
The tone of languid nature. Mighty winds
That sweep the skirt of some far- sweeping wood
Of ancient growth, make music not unlike
The dash of Ocean on his winding shore.
And lull the spirit while they fill the mind»"*

In this passage, as elsewhere, Cowper shows his extreme suscep-
tibility to the external world. It is not, as with Wordsworth,
The spiritual "voice" of all nature speaking to him; it is instead
the simple, physical sounds of nature which exhilarate and
restore his spirit.

Cov/per had a love for nature which is much like Wordsvyrorth' s;
and like Wordsworth he sees always the good and the beautiful
in her. In addressing a friend he says:

"Thou knowest my praise of nature most sincere.
And that ray raptures are not conjured up
To serve occasions of poetic pomp.
But genuine."-

He thinks of the works of nature as far more completely beautiful

than the works of man© A man-made picture appeals solely to

the eye; one of nature's scenes appeals directly to the other

senses as well:

"Lovely indeed the mimic v/orks of Art,
But Nature's work far lovelier.

But imitative strokes can do no more

Than please the eye - sweet Nature every sense

The air salubrious of her lofty hills.

The cheering fragrance of her dewy vales.

And music of her woods - no works of man

May rival these; these all bespeak a power

Peculiar and exclusively her ovm.

Beneath the open sky she spreads the feast:

'Tis free to all - 'tis every day renew' d."^^-4.«>*

•» "The Task" Book I
-i5-K- Ibid. - Book I
Ibid.

A number of Gowper»s ideas about nature correspond, in a
general and somewhat diluted manner, to thoughts which were to
be presented by V/ordsworth a number of years later. In Cowper»s
sympathetic understanding of animals, in his spontaneous reveling
in the joy and beauty of nature, and in his realization of her
soothing and dynamic influence over man - Cowper is foreshadowing
some of the most important concepts of Wordsworth's nature
doctrine. But for completeness of treatment and dopth of feeling
Cowper *s nature poetry cannot compare with Wordsworth's. His
reactions to nature are inspired merely by her outward
manifestations; he fails to catch the mystical murraurings of her
universal soul.

All these predecessors of Wordsworth which I have discussed,
disclose a decided reaction to the natural world. They have been
affected, perhaps, by the spirit of unrest which preceded the
French Revolution and which looked upon man and simple nature as
good sind beautiful. They may portray nature realistically, they
may express a love for nature, they may even idealize nature in
their passionate enthusiasms, but never do they attain the high
spiritual level of V/ordsworth« s complete nature philosophy.

With the exception of Thomson, Blake, and Cov.'per, these
predecessors rarely consider nature for her own sake; she serves
as a setting for human action. They seldom give a soul to
nature, they never consider to any marked extent, the spiritual
bond between this soul and man's. Wordsworth, with his belief
in a continuous and most intimate sort of spiritual relationship
between man and nature, strikes a note never before so perfectly
sounded in English poetry.

1

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850)
In the famous Preface of the 1800 edition of "Lyrical
Ballads" Words',vorth makes a few definite statements regarding his
feeling for nature. In explaining why hmihle and rustic life is
the subject of his poems, he states as his last reason that "in
that condition the passions of men are incorporated with the
beautiful and permanent forms of nature." Here is an expression
of his belief in the fusion of the soul of man with that of
nature. He further states that "man and nature are essentially
adapted to each other", and he thinks of the "mind of man as
naturally the mirror of the fairest and most interesting properties
of nature". This spiritual unity of man and nature is further
emphasized by his statement that the passions, thoughts and
feelings of men are connected not only with moral sentiments and
animal sensations, but with the causes which excite these - "with
the operation of the elements, and the appearance of the visible
universe; with storm and sunshine, with the revolution of the
seasons, with cold and heat". In answering his own question.
What is a poet? he says among other things that he is a man "pleased
with his own passions and volitions, and who rejoices more than
other men in the spirit of life that is in living, delighting to
contemplate similar volitions and passions as manifested in
the goings-on of the universe". Wordsworth is thinking of the
"goings-on of the universe," or nature, as consciously experiencing
the same impulses and emotions as mankind. He is giving a soul to
nature - not a lifeless, artificially created soul - but one v;hich
is just as real as man's. In the perfect revelation of a conscious

X

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12.

soul permeating all nature, of the mystical relationship between
the soul of nature and that of humanity, and of the fundamental
unity of all living things, we get the essentials as well as the
distinguishing points of superiority, of Wordsworth's conception
of nature as found in "Lyrical Ballads" •

The following passages taken from poems found in "Lyrical
Ballads" show how thoroughly Wordsworth carried out his theories
expressed in the Preface. From "Michael" come lines illustrating
his belief in the interplay of the human and the natural mind;

"And hence this Tale while I was yet a boy
Careless of books, yet having felt the power
Of nature, by the gentle agency
Of natural objects, led me on to feel
For passions that were not my own, and think

(At random and imperfectly indeed)
On man, the heart of man, and human life."*

The youthful poet, in some mysterious way, feels the power of

nature's spirit. It introduces him to a wholly nev/ set of

emotional e:5cperiences and to a field of speculation which embraces

•"man, the heart of man, and human life." He is carried out of

himself into a new world filled with ecstatic interest.

The first of his "Poems on the Naming of Places" contains

these beautiful and significant lines which attest to his belief

in a spiritual communion between all nature - a communion which

embraces the mind of man:

"It was an April morning; fresh and clear
The rivulet, delighting in its strength.
Ran with a young man's speed -

The stream, so ardent in its course before.
Sent forth such sallies of glad souiid, that all

% "Michael" lines 27-33

TiVhlch till then had heard appeared the voice

Of common pleasure, beast and bird, the iamb.

The shepherd's dog, the linnet, and the thrush.

Vied v/ith this waterfall, and made a song

TiVhich, while I listened, seemed like the wild growth

Or like some natural produce of the air.

That could not cease to be«"-55-

Wordsworth believed that a continual interchange of moods is

effected by the different natural elements working on each other.

The April moraing is cheerful and bright; a rivulet catches the

spirit and sends forth music of delight; then contagiously the

birds and animals pick up the refrain and all pour forth their

joyous songs; finally man is similarly affected by these sights

and sounds which are "like some natural produce of the air". So

close is this spiritual kinship betv/een nature and man that both

talk the same language; both are subject to the same influences

and experience the same reactions.

Another important poem for our study is "Lines Written

in Early Spring". Here Wordsworth is contrasting the joyous

rapture of the flowers and animals to the sordid worldliness of

h\imanity. He feels his soul bound by sympathetic ties to nature's

joy and love, and regrets that all haimanity is not equally happy:

"I heard a thousand blended notes

To her fair works did Nature link
The huinan soul that in me ran;

Through primrose tufts in that green bower.
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths.
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played.
Their thoughts I cannot measure :-
But the least motion which they made.
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

•» "Poems on the Naming of Places" I - lines 1-3, 22-29

1

The budding tv/lgs spread out their fan.

To catch the breezy air.

And I must think, do all I can.

That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent.
If such be Nature's holy plan.
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?"

In this poem is perfectly illustrated Wordsworth's belief that

all living things in the universe are subject to the same

volitions and passions. Flowers, birds, trees- all of nature's

children- find conscious happiness in living.

And finally, in "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintem

Abbey", we get the full sweep of Wordsworth's power. This poem

is the compendium of his whole nature philosophy:

"For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
The still, sad music of humanity.
Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
To chasten and subdue. And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
V/hose dwelling is the light of setting suns.
And the round ocean and the living air.
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought.
And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still
A lover of the meadows and the woods.
And moimtains ; and of all that we behold
From this green earth; of all the mighty world
Of eye and ear,- both what they half create.
And what perceive; well pleased to recognize
In nature and the language of the sense
The anchor of my present thoughts, the muse.
The guide, the guardian of heart, and soup
Of all ray moral being" •

The poet feels an existent spiritual force animating all nature

and incorporating all her forms. He ■ is stirred to the depths of

his soul by comniunlon with this force. While Cowper was stirred
by her outer ejcpressions - her green fields, singing birds, and
murmuring streams - V/ordsworth is influenced by something far
deeper and more powerful^ His thoughts are disturbed by a "presence"
the spiritual embodiment of nature's universal soul* From this
spirit of "something far more deeply interfused, whose dwelling
is the light of setting suns", he derives a sublime serenity, a
sense of security as he acknowledges nature as his moral guide
and spiritual healer^st

Summarizing, Wordsworth's philosophy of nature is, broadly
speaking, pantheistic. He conceives of man and all other living
things of nature as being included in one unified scheme of things©
Nature, herself, is pervaded by a soul to which man's is perfectly
attuned. This sympathetic spiritual bond existing between the
two allows man to receive influences from nature. Nature, endowed
with a consciousness, is actuated by the spirit of joy, love, and
morality. By her agency man is taught moral wisdom and spiritual
insight; he is healed and comforted. Since all nature is good,
man should respect and love even the meanest of her creatures*

From my discussion of Wordsworth it should be clear to
what extent his philosophy of nature transcends that of his pre-
decessors. In certain respects, to be sure, his ideas correspond
roughly with such poets as Burns, Blake, and Cowper. That is to
be expected. But he so far surpasses them in scope, in creative
imagination, and in profundity, that his distinctive characteristics
are unmistakable© In portraying the unity of all living things,

in investing nature with a soul which is continually communing

* Three other poems, "To My Sister", "Expostulation and Reply", and
"The Tables Turned" further illustrate Wordsworth's belief' in the
guiding and soothing power of nature over man.

1

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1

with man, and in revealing the influence which this spiritual
intimacy with nature exerts on man, we have qualities which
certainly had not been emphasized before in English poetry.

There can be no doubt that Wordsworth, as the e:fponent
of a new and inspirational nature philosophy, exerted a far-
reaching effect upon succeeding English poetry. Just how immediate
was this effect, and how definitely it may be observed in the
works of English poets writing in the next tv;enty years is some-
what problematical. There is little satisfactory critical
material on the subject. We have a few comments concerning the
degree of Wordsworth's immediate popularity. They might be
expected to indicate in a general way the extent of his
contemporary influence. In 1817 Coleridge says: "Year after
year increased the number of Mr, Vi/ordsworth* s admirers. They
were found too not in the lower classes of the reading public,
but chiefly among young men of strong sensibility and meditative
minds ."^'f Rannie states that "The discipleship of Wilson and
DeQuincey to 'Lyrical Ballads* did not represent any large
section of critical opinion about Wordsv/orth. During at least
the first quarter of the century Wordsworth entirely failed to
win popularity among the general poetry reading and poetry
buying public. — But though the public neglected him the narrower
critical world was stirred from the out set • "•«-"• On the other
hand Brandes remarks that "from 1800 to 1820 his (Wordworth» s)
poetry was trodden underfoot, "-:h:-^«- and Thomas DeQuincey says that
in 1800 he alone "in all Europe" was quoting from Wordsworth .^hhs-k-

* "Biographia Litereria": Chap. XIV, p. 368, 369.

Rannie - "Wordsworth and his Circle - p. 195.
-Jr>.'c'A- Brandes, G. - "Main Currents in English Literature" :Vol.Iv, p. 52

Rannie - "Wordsworth and hisCircle" : p. 195

In speaking of the lesser poets writing in the early nineteenth
century George Saintsbury observes that "Despite individual
tendencies to imitation all of the minor poets show a general air
of sheep without a shepherd* Even their elder contemporaries,
from Wordsworth downward were fully comprehended by few of themo"-^^"
Only one of these critics, the sanguinary Coleridge, goes so far
as to definitely ascribe any degree of popularity to V/ordsv/orth
during the years 1800 to 1820* Rannie more cautiously avers
that the "narrov/er critical world was stirred." DeQuincey and
Brandes will not admit that Wordsworth enjoyed any contemporary
approbation, while Saintsbury, speaking merely about the minor
poets, feels that with possibly a very few exceptions they did not
even understand him.

Irrespective of whether or not Wordsworth's poetry was pop-
ular, the fact remains that "Lyrical Ballads" was well known and
much discussed. The publication of this volume did stir liberary
England. The work was ridiculed and condemned. The scant praise
which it received was tempered by fault-finding. But it was not
ignored. I think we should probably be safe in saying that every
contemporary poet in England knew of Wordsworth and was familiar
with the contents of "Lyrical Ballads".

* Cambridge History of English Literature - Vol, XII, Chap. V, p. 153.

r

o

BODY OP DISQUISITION
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

In attempting to determine what Influence, if any, Words-
worth's nature doctrine had on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, we are
confronted with an unusual situation* For the three years preceding
the publication of "Lyrical Ballads" the two poets had been the
closest of friends, and had discussed at length and very seriously
their theories of poetry ♦ They had determined to publish "Lyrical
Ballads" working in collaboration. In "Biographia Literaria"
Coleridge mentions the fact that many of the poetic principles
(he does not say which ones) set forth in the 1798 Preface had
been discussed thoroughly by Wordsworth and himself.

It is difficult to determine which of these poets had the
greater influence on the other. Both were undoubtedly greatly
stimulated by their association. The personalities of the two
were strangely contrasted. Of the two Wordsworth's was the
stronger, more independent and self -centered nature. By
temperament he was loath to acknowledge any authority other than
his own. He gives no hint in any of his writings as to what part
Coleridge played in formulating the nature doctrines which
"Lyrical Ballads" made famous. Coleridge, on the other hand, was
of a more amenable, vacillating, warm-hearted, generous nature.
He idolized his friend, spoke of him as the "Giant Wordsworth",
as his "teacher" and "inspirer", as the greatest poet since
Milton.

These facts lead us to conclude that it was, in all
probability, Wordsworth's dominant influence during their

19.

discussions which inspired Coleridge to express certain ideas

on nature in poems written before "Lyrical Ballads", poems

which I shall discuss briefly. In this period, the years 1797

and 1798, he wrote the following poems, which, I think, show

clearly the influence of his association with Wordsworth:

"This Lime Tree Bower", "The Dungeon", "Fears in Solitude",

"Frost at Midnight", and "The Nightingale."

In both "This Lime Tree Bower" (1797) and "The Dungeon"

(1797) Coleridge considers nature as exerting a soothing,

restorative influence over man. In the former the poet, dis-

consolable at being left alone, finds comfort in nature. In

the latter the poet contrasts the means used by man and nature

in dealing with an unruly spirit. A criminal, thro^vn into

prison, is permanently ruined; a criminal, subject to nature's

healthful influence, is reformedi

"with other ministrations thou, 0 Nature I
Healest thy wandering and distempered child.
Thou pourest on him thy soft influences.
Thy sunny hues, fair forms and breathing sv/eets.
Thy melodies of woods, and winds, and waters.
Till he relent."

"Fears In Solitude" (composed early in 1798) describes the

dynamic power which nature exerts on a man who is surrounded by

her beauty:

"Sweet influences trembled o'er his frame.
And he with many feelings, many thoughts.
Made up a meditative joy"-
and found

"Religious messings in the forms of nature."
In "Frost at Midnight" (also composed early in 1798)
Coleridge thinks of a child as comprehending "sounds intelligible

of that eternal language" (of nature) and as being taught thereby.

And in "The Nightingale" (1798- published in "Lyrical Ballads")

the poet considers the nightingale's song, as everything else in

nature, as filled with a joyousness and love which is comraunlcated

to man. He speaks of

"Nature's sweet voices, always full of love
And j cyan eel"

and feels that the poet would do well to surrender his whole spirit
"to the influxes of shapes and sounds and shifting elementsV*

It will be remarked that although the poems mentioned by no
means reflect Wordsworth's complete nature philosophy, they do,
nevertheless, express a number of his well-known ideas on nature
and her influence on man.

Strangely enough only two of Coleridge's poems written between
1800 and 1820 could be found which might seem to show the influence
of Wordsworth's nature doctrine on his friend. The first of these,
"Defection, an Ode" (1802), Is interesting in that Coleridge here
is apparently challenging Wordsworth's assertion that man's soul,
by a "wise passiveness" , can receive at any time spiritual
sustenance from nature. Coleridge contends that only when man's
soul is joyfully harmonized with nature's can he be affected by her.
Then

"Those sounds (of nature) which oft have raised

me while they awed

And sent my soul abroad.

Might now perhaps their wonted impulse give.

Might startle this dull pain, and make it move and live J"

But since (in this case) the poet's mood is not attuned to nature's

no consolation can be derived from her. This poem certainly does

not show discipleship to Wordsworth's ideas although it may

signify indirectly that Coleridge had been stimulated by a

contemplation of Wordsworth's philosophy.

Finally, in Coleridge's poem, "To Nature" (1815), we see that

seventeen years after the publication of "Lyrical Ballads" he

considers nature ( somewhat more doubtfully than in a few of his

earlier poems) as a source of inspiration and joy to the human soul

"It may indeed be phantasy, when I
Essay to draw from all created things
Deep, heartfelt, inward joy that closely clings.
And trace in leaves and flowers that round me lie.
Lessons of love and earnest piety."

There is no doubt in Wordsworth's mind that he will derive "deep,

heartfelt, inward joy" from association with nature. Coleridge,

appears to be trying to convince himself of this fact. He is still

so\indlng, however, a Wordsv/orthian note, if somewhat weakly.

My study of Coleridge shows, I believe, two things: first,
that during the two years preceding the publication of "Lyrical
Ballads" a period in which Coleridge and Wordsworth were eagerly
discussing their theories on different matters, Coleridge, in his
poetry, shows strong evidence that he was influenced by a portion
of Wordsworth's nature doctrine later set forth in "Lyrical Ballads'
and second, that during the twenty years follov^ing the publication
of "Lyrical Ballads" Coleridge is influenced vei^ little by these
same conceptions.

An illuminating letter written by Coleridge in 1820 may
explain why he himself, although earlier he speaks warmly of
Wordsworth as his "teacher" and "inspirer", does not breath forth
in his poetry written during the years 1800-1320- a more Words-
worthian philosophy. In this letter the mature Coleridge expresses
disapproval at the lengths to which Wordsworth's fervor has carried
that poet. He feels that V/ordsworth is too general and hazy in his

22.

statements as to the effect of nature on man, man»s dependence
on nature, and the mystic relationship between man, nature, and
God :

Nil "I will not conceal from you that this infernal

dependency of the human soul on accidents of
birthplace and abode; together with the vague,
misty, rather than mystic confusion of God
with the world, and the accompanying nature-
worship, of which the asserted dependence forms
a part, is the trait in Wordsworth »s poetic
works that I most dislike as unhealthy, and
denounce as contagious".

Evidently Coleridge, during the years 1800-1320, took good care

to avoid the "unhealthy" and "contagious" features of Wordsv/orth* s

nature worship, for he obviously did not contract the disease.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)

A comparatively small part of Lord Byron's poetic output
concerns nature. In the main his poetry is an expression of
his passionate revolt against the proprieties and moral restrictions
9' of the age. A study of Byron's poetry and life furnishes evidence

that, for a time at least, he admired Wordsworth and that during
this period his poetic feelings were definitely influenced by
V/ordsworth*s conception of nature. The period referred to is
that short summer of 1816, when Byron, ostracized by English
society, had taken refuge in Switzerland. During ftiis period
the Third Canto of "Childe Harold »s Pilgrimage", "The Prisoner
of Chillon", "The Dream", and "Epistle to Augusta" were written.

Byron's mental state at this time v/as the result of a
number of circumstances. Early in 1816 Lady Byron suddenly left
her husband. Byron's reputation in England had never been good,
and it was natural that society, having no e ridence on either
side, should take the part of the wronged wife. Byron was
violently denounced by an infuriated people. Virtually forced
out of England by public scorn Byron lived for a time near Geneva,
amidst the magnificent Swiss Alps. Here he was closely associated
with Shelley, a poet for whom Byron had great admiration. Four
influences seem to have affected his poetry during this period:
first, a hostile society wounding B;<)'-ron»s pride and self-esteem;
second, the natural beauty of Switzerland; third, Shelley, with
his refining and stimulating sensitiveness to the glory of lake
and mountain; fourth, Wordsworth's philosophy of nature - a doctrine
already familiar to Byron. Of the first three factors little
need be said. Their existence should be recognized in order
to understand fully the significance of the fourth. The fourth
factor, Wordsworth's philosophy of nature as a direct influence
on Byron's poetry of this period, is important for our
consideration.

As an indication of Byron's familiarity with V/ordsworth' s
poetry we have his poem "Churchill's Grave". In an accompanying
note Byron frankly states that the poem is an imitation of
Wordsworth's style. He furthermore attests to the seriousness
of his effort and expresses sincere admiration for Wordsworth's
poetic ability. Here is external evidence that Byrcn was, for
a time at least, subject to the influence of Wordsworth.

Alone, exiled from his country and wife and friends by a
hostile society, it was only natural that Byron should be eager
to grasp at anything furnishing solace. Beautiful nature was at
hand, but nature per se was not to be the curative. A soul-
satisfying philosophy derived from the contemplation of the
wonders of nature was Byron's saviour in this trying summer of
1816. In reaching this philosophic haven Byron was, I believe,
guided and inspired by familiarity with Wordsworth's comforting
doctrine of the intimate spiritual bonds between man and nature.

Passages from Byron's poetry which shov/ to what extent
Wordsworth's philosophy of nature was inculcated in Byron's cons-
ciousness are to be found in abundance in the Third Canto of
"Childe Harold" In the follovang lines from that poem a decided
similarity to Wordsworth's ideas on the communion of man with
nature, and nature's soothing and healthful effect on man, is
apparent :

"where rose the mountain there to him were friends.
Where roll'd the ocean, thereon was his home;
Where a blue sky, and a glowing clime extends.
He has the passion and the power to roam;
IThe desert, forest, cavern, breaker's foam.
Were unto him companionship; they spake
A mutual language, clearer than the tone
Of his land's tongue, which he would oft forsake
For Nature's pages glass 'd by sunbeams on the lake,"-5:-

"Childe Harold" , Canto III, lines 109-117 (composed in June- July,
1816)

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25.

Byron finds companionship and love in the desert and the "breaker's

foam"; he finds a home, a refuge in nature* Things of nature and

man speak a "mutual language", one "clearer than the tone of his

land's tongue". This belief in the close spiritual communion

binding man and nature in indissoluble ties is a fundamental

principle of Wordsworth's philosophy, as is the feeling that nature

is a loving and comforting friend.

Denied the sympathetic understanding of society so necessary

to a sensitive soul, Byron abandons any hope of fellowship with .

man, and recognizes his own mind and nature as his only sources

of inspiration:

"Away with these, true wisdom's world will be
Within its o\m creation, or in thine.
Maternal Nature I "•■"-

Byron dismisses worldly considerations and turns to nature for

true wisdom* He considers nature as a dynamic force which will

guide his thought* It will be recalled that Wordsworth had

expressed this same belief in the dynamic power of nature eighteen

years before* Wordsworth's was:

"Well pleased to recognize
In Nature

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the muse
The guide, the guardian of my heart

Wordsworth sincerely believed in the isolation of the

individual man in nature and in the complete absorption of man's

soul in her* He could not think of himself as being separated

in any way from nature; he was a part of her; he lost himself in

her* He expresses this feeling as follows:

* "CMJdeiiiroDd" Lines 406-8

"Tintern Abbey", lines 93-95*

"For Nature then —

To me was all In all,- I cannot paint
What then I v;as. The sounding cataract
Haunted me like a passion; the tall rock
The moxintain, and the deep and gloomy wood.
Their columns and their forms, were then to me
An appetite: a feeling and a love'j-?:-

In the following lines from Byron *s "Chllde Harold" the thougiht

and mood are almost identical with those expressed in the above

passage from Wordsworth:

"I live not in myself, but I become
Portion of that around me, and to me
High mountains are a feeling — 'Nh:-

He too becomes a part of nature; his soul is absorbed in hers,

as was Vi/ordsworth* s. Furthermore, the phrasing of parts of the

two passages are very much alike. To Wordsworth the "columns"

and "forms" of rock, mountain and wood are a feeling. To Byron

"high mountains" are a feeling. And later in the same poem

Byron asks:

"Are not the mountains, waves and skies a part
Of me and of my soul, as I of them?
Is not the love of these deep in my heart
With a pure passion?"-)H:"K-

He loves natural objects with a pure passion. Wordsworth says

"The sounding cataract haixnted me like a passion" . Byron

reiterates this feeling of oneness with nature, and the fusion

of his own personality with her soul.

The following lines, still from the Third Canto of

"Childe Harold", might easily be mistaken for V/ordsworth at

his best* In them the poet shoves his sensitive response to the

varying moods of nature - a fundamental tenet of Wordsworth:

"Tintem Abbey", lines 72 ff.

"Childe Harold", Canto III, lines 680-682

Ibid, lines 707-710

4^

"It Is the hush of night, and all between
Thy margin and the mountains, dusk, yet clear,
Mellow'd and mingling, yet distinctly seen.
Save darkened Jura, whose capt heights appear
Precipitously steep: and drawing near.
There breathes a living fragrance from the shore.
Of flowers yet fresh from childhood; on the ear.
Drops the light dip of suspended oar.
Or chirps the grasshopper one good-night carol more—
Ke is an evening reveller, who makes
His life an infancy, and sings his fill,—
At intervals some bird from out the brakes
Starts into voice a moment, then is still.
There seems a floating v/hisper on the hill.
But that is fancy for the starlight dews
All silently their tears of love instil.
Weeping themselves away till they infuse
Deep into Nature's breast the spirit of her hues"*

Byron feels that not only does man's spirit beat in accord with

the beautiful things of nature's creation, but that nature's soul,

too, is colored by the various manifestations of all living things

The calm, peaceful beauty of the scene described, the love and

unity which pervade it, are harmonious, we are made to feel, with

a corresponding mood in the poet* He feels himself a sharer in

the evening song of nature* The dusk, the indistinct mountain,

the flowers, the grasshopper, the dewdrops, the bird, and the

poet himself are all parts of a unified scheme* In the poem Byron

again brings out the fact that nature's moods are reflected by man

"Adieu to thee (Rhine) againi a vain adieul
There can be no farewell to scene like thine;
The mind is colored by thy every huei"— -

.That Byron felt himself to be a "sharer" in nature's moods, and

that he exulted in them is evident from the following lines,

which, though more exuberant than any of V/ordsworth' s, are still

part of the essential philosophy of that poet x-jj-^hj-

* "Childe Harold", Canto III, lines 806-2S
^HJ- Ibid, lines 572-74

It should be noted that whereas Wordsworth was interested
primarily in the calm, peaceful aspects of nature Byron
generally treats her in her wilder, darker moods.

t

"And this is in the niglit. Most glorious night.
Thou wert not sent foi* slumber, let nie be
A sharer in thy fierce and far delight,
A portion of the tempest and of thee J "^J-

Like Wordsworth, Byron gives a soul to nature. In the

impassioned apostrophe given below he personifies, in a most

intimate way, nature and natural objects, and thinks of them

as possessing a consciousness:

"sky, m-ountains, rivers, woods, lake, lightnings] Ye
With might and clouds, and thunder, and a soul
To make thee felt and feeling, well may be
Things that have made me watchful" -:h5-

The preceding quotations from Canto Three of "Childe

Harold's Pilgrimage" contain marked parallels in thought and

feeling to passages in Wordsworth. Wordsv/orth himself noticed

this similarity and, irritated by what he considered undue

forwardness in a yotinger poet, charged Byron with plagiarism. v-

To this charge Lord John Russell sententiously replied that

"if Wordsworth wrote the Third Canto of »Childe Harold*, it is

his best work"

Not only in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" but in a number

of Byron's other poems is Wordsworth's influence to be seen.

Where, other than in one of his own poems, could we find a

better voicing of Wordsworth's feeling for a conscious soul in

nature and a merging of this soul with the soul of man, than 1

Byron's poem, "The Island"?

"How often we forget all time, when love.
Admiring Nature's \miversal throne.
Her woods, her wilds, her waters, the intense
Reply of hers to our intelligence!
Live not the stars and motintains? Are the waves
V/ithout a feeling in their silent tears?

* "Childe Harold", Canto III, lines 869-72
Ibid, lines 896-99

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29.

Ho, no;- they too woo and clasp us to their spheres.

Dissolve their clog and clod of clay before

Its home, and merge our soul in the great shore."

In a speech by Manfred, from Byron's drama of that name,

s

we catch suggestions of Wordsworth's communion with nature and

its significance to him:

Manfred: "I linger yet with Nature, for the night
Hath been to me a more familiar face
Than that of man, and in her starry shade
Of dim and solitary loveliness,
I leam'd the language of another world.

Prom nature Byron learns the "language of another world". New

sensations and thoughts have been introduced into his life

through the agency of nature. A mystical union e^cists between

his consciousness and hers. Wordsworth speaks this "language

of another world" most of his life; he too is continually led

on by natural objects to feel "for passions that were not his

own"

To Wordsworth nature furnishes material and inspiration

for contemplation. He feels in nature "a presence that disturbs

(him) with the joy of elevated thought s"-"--^- In the poem,

"Epistle to Augusta", Byron expresses the same thought:

"Here are the Alpine landscapes which create
A fund for contemplation;- to admire
Is a brief feeling of a trivial date;
But something worthier do such scenes inspire;
Here to be lonely is not desolate • "v-x-k-

Byron, like Wordsworth, has learned to look on nature "not as

f in the hour of thoughtless youth," ;'K<--x--j:- admiration of the mere

physical beauty of nature is unsatisfactory to him. A fuller

realization of its possibilities for the human soul can be

* "Manfred"

■Yc')i- "Tin tern Abbey"

^-x-* "Epistle to Augusta", 1816

•jh:"X"«- "Tintem Abbey"

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obtained only when it is considered philosophically.

The foregoing material shows clearly a marked similarity
between the nature doctrines of Byron and Vir^ordsworth. When Byron
expresses a feeling of companionship with nature, when he
recognizes a soul in nature, when he shows a belief in a connection
between that soul and man's, when he thinks of man's mind as being
influenced by this spiritual relationship- in all these cases-
we have ideas which are fundamental principles with Wordsworth.
It should be remembered that these ideas about nature v/ere first
expressed in English poetry by Wordsworth in "Lyrical Ballads";
that when Byron was writing, V/ordsworth was an outstanding, if
not an especially popular, figure in English poetry; and that his
"lyrical Ballads" and poetic theories were well known in
literary circles. In addition, Wordsworth, who should have been
better able to identify his own thoughts than any one else,
charged that Byron appropriated much of the Third Canto of
"Childe Harold" from him, a charge which, so far as I can find,
has never been refuted. Coincidence or contemporaneousness cannot
satisfactorily explain the numerous similarities which exist
between this poem and some of V/ordsworth* s#

In a way it seems strange that Byron, a man whose personality
was diametrically the opposite of Wordsworth's, should have been
affected to an appreciable extent by the thought expressed in
"Lyrical Ballads", Yet the foregoing study indicates that, for
a time at least, he was clearly influenced by Wordsworth's nature
philosophy. The influence is confined pretty closely to the
poems, already mentioned, written in the summer of 1816 • That

9

Byron, one of the foremost poets of the century, should have
been affected by the nature philosophy of V/ordsworth, even though
for a short time, and that probably the most beautiful poetry
which he ever wrote, the Third Canto of "Childe Harold", should
have been conceived and executed under the inspiration of
V/ordsv;orth, is a great tribute to the power of "Lyrical Ballads."

Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822)
ViThen Shelley was but eight years old the second edition
of "Lyrical Ballads" was published. Yifith the publication of
this work the field of nature was recognized as a vital poetic
possibility. Wordsworth had thrown open the windows and had let
In the fresh air of the mountains and the sea. Nature now was
not considered merely as an objective setting- a subject to be
treated in the first two stanzas as introduction to a poem and
then forgotten. It was now considered a subject worthy of
treatment for its ovm intrinsic qualities.

That the youthful Shelley knew and admired Wordsv/orth» s
poetry is known. Mrs, Shelley, in a note on her husband's
"Queen Mab", in explaining its composition and more particularly
its source of Inspiration, writes, "Our earlier English poetry
was almost unknown to him. The love and knowledge of Nature
developed by iVordsworth - the lofty melody and mysterious beauty
of Coleridge's poetry - and the wild fantastic machinery and
gorgeous scenery adopted by Southey - comprised his favorite
reading"* It is a logical supposition that Shelley's instinctive
turning to nature was encouraged by his familiarity v/ith

Complete Poetical Viforks of Percy Bysshe Shelley - ed.Wm.Rossetti,
1878 - p. 83.

Wordsworth. There is further external evidence that Shelley
was influenced by Wordsworth, It is to be found in a prefatory
note to "Prometheus Unbound" ♦ Although the poem itself contains
little of material value for the purposes of this paper, Shelley's
note is of great Importance, In it the poet shows that he was
not oblivious to the fact that he (as well as other writers) was
unconsciously influenced necessarily by the thoughts and feelings
of contemporaries* He says:

"One word is due in candor to the degree in which the study
of contemporary writings may have tinged my compositions; for
such has been a topic of censTire with poems far more popular,
and indeed more deservedly popular than mine. It is impossible
that any one who inhabits the same age with such writers as those
who stand in the foremost ranks of our own can conscientiously
assure himself that his language and tone of thought may not have
been modified by the study of the production of these extra-
ordinary intellects" Wordsworth stood undeniably in "the foremost
ranks" of poets in Shelley's day, hence it is logical to assert
the fact that Shelley recognized the probability of Wordsworth's
influence. In view of this external evidence alone it would seem
highly probable that in a general way at least, the course of
Shelley's thought was partially directed by the emanations of the
healthy nature doctrines preached by Wordsworth.

In spite of many instances of similarity between Shelley's
poetry and Wordsworth's in which Wordsworth's influence seems to
be discemable - instances which will be pointed out later - it
is necessary in all fairness to indicate some of the fundamental

if

differences between these two poets' conception and treatment

of nature. First of all, Shelley considered nature as a lover,

and addressed it in passionate terms of endearment. V/ordsworth,

for the most part, considered nature more as an invigorator,

a source of inspiration, raiaterial for contemplation; he never

is so carried away by emotion as to think of her as anything

more than a friend. Shelley realized this detached quality of

Wordsworth's contemplation of nature, and impatiently jeered

at him in "Peter Bell the Third" for what he considered to be

Wordsworth's emotional limitations. In this poem Peter, of

course, represents Wordsworth:

"But from the first 'twas Peter's drift
To be a kind of moral eunuch;
He touched the hem of Nature's skirt.
Felt faint,- and never dared uplift
The closest all-concealing tunic"-JS-

Nature to Shelley was a place of refuge from a harsh and
unsympathetic humanity. In describing the essence of love, in
a short essay "On Love", he talks of searching for and finally
finding "an understanding capable of clearly estimating our own.-
Hence in solitude, or in that deserted state when we are surround
ed by human beings, and yet they sympathize not with us, we love
the flowers, the grass, the waters, and the sky.—- There is
an eloquence in the tongueless wind, and a melody in the flow-
ing brooks which bring tears of mysterious tenderness to the
eyes, like the voice of one beloved singing to you alone'J**
Wordsworth did not think of nature as a place of refuge, for he
was in no need of refuge. He sought nature out, rather, as a
source of enjoyment and of a more complete life. To Shelley the

* "Peter Bell the Third" - Fart IV, stanza XI. (Comp.1819)
"Essay on Love" -

the stony calm of nature as it regards huirian life was benevolence
in comparison with man's stupidity and brutality. To Wordsworth,
the lover of humanity as well as of nature, man was seldom
brutal or stupid; both nature and man were benevolent* Another
marked difference between these two poets is to be found in
their sources of inspiration* Shelley was not generally inspired
to his highest poetry by the flowers of the field or the trees,
but by the grand and distant, by the motions of sea or heavens.
Wordsworth, on the other hand, wrote some of his greatest poetry
on just such subjects as flowers and trees.

A few facts of Shelley's life should be reviewed before an
explanation of his nature poetry is attempted. Following his
expulsion from Oxford as a result of his tract, "The Necessity
for Atheism", and his premature marriage with and subsequent
separation from Harriet Westbrook, Shelley found himself, like
Byron, practically an outcast from society. This fact, which
meant that he was denied the sympathy of his fellowmen, made it
natural for him to seek elsewhere for consolation. He turned to

Mary Godwin and to nature.

be

There appears tc/ abundant internal evidence that Wordsworth
exerted a potent influence on much of Shelley's nature poetry.
Many passages may be shown which bear the definite stamp of
Wordsworth's nature philosophy. His (Wordsworth's) pantheism,
his belief in a spiritual communion between all sentient things
and in divine inspiration to be derived by man. from nature, his
belief in the essential goodness of nature, are all to be found
in Shelley.

«f

35.

First let us consider Shelley's poen "Alastor: or the

Spirit of Solltudey rightly called by Mrs, Shelley one of her

husband's most characteristic works.* Written in 1915, this

N| poem contains passages which closely resemble the pantheistic

ideas of Wordsworth:

"Earth, Ocean, Air, beloved brotherhood!
If our great mother has Imbued ray soul
V;ith aught of natural piety to feel
Your love, and recompense the boon with mine;
If devrj morn, and odorous noon, and even.
With sunset and its gorgeous ministers.
And solemn midnight's tingling silentness;
If Autumn's hollow sighs in the sere wood.
And winter robing with pure snow and crowns
Of starry ice and gray grass and bare boughs -
If Spring's voluptuous pantings when she breathes
Her first sweet kisses - have been dear to me;
If no bright bird, insect, or gentle beast,
I consciously have Injured, but still loved
And cherished these ray kindred,- then forgive
This boast beloved brethren, and withdraw
No portion of your wonted favor nowl

Shelley feels himself and all living creatures to be a part of

one universal brotherhood. To nature, the mother, Shelley

addressed his poem, recognizing in the expression of her mysteries

and in the fundamental goodness of her children a religious

conception of value to mankind, Shelley's pulse, no less than

Wordsworth's, beats in mysterious sympathy with nature's. Later

in the poem just quoted he expresses thoughts on the relationship

betv/een nature and man which are similar to Wordsv/orth' s. Man

derives divine inspiration from nature: ^

"By solemn vision and bright silver dream
^ His infancy was nurtured. Every sight

And sound from the vast earth and ambient air
Sent to his heart its choicest Impulses.
The fountains of divine philosophy
Fled not his thirsting lips;'' —

» Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley; ed.Vto.Rossetti
(1878) p. 94.
"Alastor"-llnes 1-17
Ibid. Lines 67-72

The 'bhoicest impulses" of nature exert a dynamic pov;er on man,

allowing him to drink of a "divine philosophy". Prom her man

gets material for philosophical contemplation; he derives thereby

religious sustenance* Just so V/ordsworth was led on by the "gentle

agency of natural objects — for passions that were not (his)

own"-::- And just as Wordsworth was affected by definite facts of

nature such as the sight of daffodils in a field, a daisy, or

the song of a bird, so Shelley was affected by "every sight and

sound from the vast earth and ambient air"

Shelley shows his sense of the mystic relationship between

man and nature when he tells of the poet*s walk;

"A spirit seemed
To stand beside him - clothed in no bright robes
Of shadowy silver or enshrining light
Borrowed from aught the visible v/orld affords
Of grace or majesty or mystery;
But, - undulating woods, and silent well.
And leaping rivulet, and evening gloom
Nov/ deepening the dark shades, for speech assuming, -
Held commune with him, as if he and it
Were all that was*"

The woods, well, leaping rivulet, and evening gloom are all com-
bined and seem to find expression in one spirit which "held
comm\ine" with the poet. Wordsworth likewise found in nature a
"presence" with which he was joined by the closest of spiritual
ties:

"And I have felt

A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thcuglits." -JHS-*

A feeling very characteristic of Wordsworth was that all

living things of this world are capable of, and experience, the

* "Tin tern Abbey"

^A-%r "Alastor", line 477 ff.

•A-^A-^/c "Tint em Abbey"

1

ft

same amotions. To him "birds, flowers and trees are filled
in the springtime with just such joy as is in the heart of man
at that time. A quotation from his familiar "Lines Written in
Early Spring" shov/s this:

"And 'tis my faith that every flov/er
enjoys the air it breathes—

The birds around me hopped and played.
Their thoughts I cannot measure
But the least motion which they made.
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fans.
To catch the breezy air.

And I must think, do all I can-

That there was pleasure there."*

Shelley evinces this same feeling in "The Sensitive Plant":

"A sensitive plant in the garden grev/;
And the young winds fed it with silver dew.
And it opened its fan like leaves to the light.
And closed them beneath the kisses of night.

But none ever trembled and panted with bliss
In the garden, the field, or the v/ilderness.
Like a doe in the noontide with lovers sweet want.
As the companionless Sensitive Plant.

But the Sensitive Plant, which could give small fruit
Of the love which it felt from the leaf to the root.
Received more than all; it loved more than ever,
liVhere none wanted but it, could belong to the giver: -

For the Sensitive Plant has no bright flower;
Radiance and odor are not its dower;
It loves even like Love, — its deep heart is full;
It desired what it has not, the beautiful. "-jhs-

The resemblance of thought and feeling of the above two passages

is obvious. Wordsworth believes that "every flower enjo^'s the

* "Lines Written in Early Spring"

•JC"^- "The Sensitive Plant"- stanzas I, III, XVIII, XIX.

air it breathes", that birds thrill with pleasure, and that there

is happiness even in the twigs of trees. Shelley is equally

certain that the sensitive plant and the doe experience ecstatic

delight which amounts to a conscious reveling in sensuous enjoyment.

The tone of these two passages is also similar, both being marked

by simplicity, happiness, and love. Shelley expresses more

briefly this same conviction that all living things experience

emotions of love and happiness in the following lines:

"The breath of the moist earth is light
Around its unexpanded buds;
Like many a voice of one delight.
The winds, the birds j the ocean floods j"-?:-

It should be remembered that Wordsworth in "Lyrical Ballads" was
the first English poet to stress the point that all life, both
animal and vegetable, consciously experiences emotions such as man
experiences. Now Shelley is emphasizing the same point; his winds
and birds and ocean floods are subject to conscious emotional reac-
tions of a similar nature.

Well-nigh conclusive evidence of Wordsworth's influence on
Shelley is to be found in Shelley* s "Queen Mab", a poem written
when the author was eighteen years old. This poem, rabidly atheistic
and in many respects immature, contains thoughts and even
expressions which are closely modeled after some to be found in
WordBworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring", which has already been
quoted. As I have previously mentioned, Mrs. Shelley, in her
introduction to "Queen Mab" comments on the fact that Shelley, at the
time of composition, had read practically none of the earlier English
poetry but that his love of nature had been developed by Wordsworth,

* "stanzas written in Dejection near Naples".

!

t

It seems plain that the young and Impressionable Shelley turned
to the composition of "Queen Mab" fresh from reading "Lyrical
Ballads".

One of the main thoughts running through "Queen Mab" is

almost identical with the principal thought in "Lines V/ritten

in Early Spring". It is that in the midst of a beautiful

and harmonious natural world, man, through his greed, his

cruelty, and his commercialism has heaped damnation upon his

ovm head, Man, naturally good, is corrupted through his

relations with other men:

"Hath Nature's soul
That formed this world so beautiful, that spread
Earth's lap with plenty, and life's smallest chord
Strung to unchanging unison, that gave
The happy birds their dwelling in the grove.
That yielded to the wanderers of the deep
The lovely silence of the unfathoraed main.
And filled the meanest worm that crawls in dust
V/ith spirit, thought and love,- on Man alone;
Partial in careless malice, wantonly
Heaped ruin, vice, and slavery? his soul
Blasted with withering curses, placed afar
The meteor happiness that shuns his grasp
But serving on the frightful gulf to glare.
Rent wide beneath his footsteps?
Nature I - nol

Kings, priests, and statesmen blast the human flower
Even in its tender bud, their influence darts
Like subtle poison tlirough the bloodless veins
Of desolate society.

-The Universe

In Nature's silent eloquence, declares

That all fulfill the works of love and joy,-

All but the outcast, Man."-::-

Nature and her worka are fundamentally good; man, and man-made

institutions, are bad. Shelley asks whether nature's soul has

wantonly heaped"ruin, vice, and slavery" on man and has

deprived him of happiness. Then in violent invective he answers

"Queen Mab".

that not nature, but "kings, priests, and statesmen" are

responsible for man^s sad state • Compare Shelley's thought

with that in the concluding stanza of V/ordsworth» s "Lines V/ritten

in Early Spring", which contains the essence of the poem:

"If this belief from heaven be sent.
If such be Nature » s holy plan.
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?"*

Shelley's stanzas which are quoted are merely an elaboration

of the above quatrain of Wordsworth. Both poets are, of course,

quoting Rousseau - Wordsworth directly, and Shelley, in all

probability, through the medium of Wordsworth^ Incidentally,

these two passages furnish an interesting contrast between the

temperaments of the two men, both of whom are expressing the

identical thought. V/ordsworth is controlled, dignified, and

comparatively unimpassioned; we think of him as sadly shaking his

head as he penned the lines. Shelley is impulsive, scathing,

and violent; we Imagine him as punctuating his sentences by

angrily shaking his fist.

I shall give only two of the many other examples of parallel

feeling for nature to be found in "Queen Mab" and "Lyrical

Ballads". The idea contained in the following lines is one

repeatedly expressed by Wordsworth:

"Yet not the meanest worm
That lurks in graves and fattens on the dead
Less shares thy eternal breatho "-"-"•

The poet thinks of all living creatures as sharing in a universal

system of things and as being infused v;ith the same spiritual

* "Lines Written in Early Spring"
"Queen Mab"

reality* The worm no less than man partakes of this soul of
nature. In this reverence for the spiritual element in all animal
existence, Shelley »s feelings resemble V/ordsworth' s expressed
belief in pantheism.

Another passage from the same poem reiterates this pan-
theistic conception. Shelley is awed by the realization that the
same passions, interests and prejudices are common to all living
things and cause similar reactions, thus forming a universal
bond between all nature:

"How wonderful that even
The passions, prejudices, interests
That sway the meanest being, the weak tough
That moves the finest nerve.
And in one human brain

Causes the faintest thought, becomes a link
In the great chain of Nature 1"

In a passage such as this the reader cannot fail to feel that

Shelley is identifying the "great chain of Nature" with God, and
is

that he/directed to this conception by V/ordsworth.

The only other poem of Shelley* to which I shall refer is
"Mont BlancV. In a note on the poem the author says: "It was
composed under the immediate impression of the deep and powerful
feelings excited by the objects which it attempts to describe."
In this poem there is a clear parallel to the idea so often
expressed by V/ordsworth: That man is definitely influenced by
nature, and that there is a very real communion between the soul
of man and the soul of nature. These ideas are repeated many
times in the poem:

"Queen Mab"

t

4

42.

"The everlasting universe of Things
Plows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves.
Now dark,- now glittering -now relfecting gloom-
Now lending splendor, where from secret springs
The source of hoaraan thought its tribute brings
Of waters.

And when I gaze on thee, (Ravine of Arve)

I seem as in a trance, sublime and strange.

To muse on my ovm separate phantasy.

My own, my human Mind, which passively

Now renders and receives fast influencings.

Holding an tmremitting interchange

With the clear universe of things around."*

Shelley feels that man's moods and thoughts are subject to the

e:xternal expression of nature's self. As the poet gazes on the

Ravine of Arve his mind "renders and receives fast influencings"

as it holds "an unremitting interchange with the clear universe

of Things around" Man's mind, in close spiritual communion with

nature is definitely influenced thereby.

Wordsworth has expressed the idea that "man and nature are

essentially adapted to each other," -«sc- and that the passions and

thoughts of man are connected not only with moral sentiment and

mind sensations but with the causes exciting them- "with the

operation of the slonents, and the appearance of the visible

universe; "4Hi-« he is

"Well pleased to recognize
In nature and the language of the sense
The anchor of my purest thouglits, the muse.
The guide, the guardian of ray heart, and soul.
Of all my moral being."-:HHS-x-

To Wordsworth, nature is a religion; its soul serves as a

foundation for his moral life and spiritual v/ell-being. Shelley

feels a mysterious presence in the forces of nature which is

likewise ("for the wise and great and good"*-"--""3H5-) a spiritual guide

» "Mont Blanc"

** Preface "Lyrical Ballads" 1800
ibid

-:mh:-jc- "Tin tern Abbey" "t^ r,-, n

" ' I'ont Blanc"

lit

r.

"The Wilderness has a mysterious tongue
Which teaches awful doubt,- or faith so mild.
So solemn, so serene, that Man may he.
But for such faith, v/ith Nature reconciled.
Thou hast a voice, great Mountain, to repeal
Large codes of fraud and woe; not understood .
By all, but which the wise and great and good
Interpret, or make felt, or deeply feel."

Just as Vv^ordsworth has felt the dynamic moral pov/er of nature, so

Shelley feels the mighty voice of the mountain which can "repel

large codes of fraud and woe".

Summarizing, ^^oi*dsworth* s feeling for nature appears to
have influenced Shelley in two ways: first, in a general way it
helped to direct Shelley's youthful thoughts and interests to
nature as a source of refuge and sympathy; second, it furnished
definite ideas about nature which Shelley accepted and incorporated
as part of his own philosophy about nature. Many instances of
similarity of thought and feeling for nature have been pointed out.
Wordswoi»th*s pantheism, his belief in the transmission of divine
inspiration through nature to man, his feeling for the mystical
communion between man and nature, his idea that "every flower
enjoys the air it breathe sy-JHc- his indignation at the short-
comings of man living in the midst of a harmonious nature,- all
these ideas about natui^e are to be found repeatedly in Shelley's
poetry. It seems probable that so many instances of similarity
are due to but one thing: Shelley had absorbed a very tangible
portion of the Wordsworthian nature doctrine.

One final point should be made before the consideration of
Shelley is dropped. Whereas Wordsworth's influence on Byron Was

* "Mont Blanc"

•jh;- "Lines Vi/ritten in Early Spring"

for a very short period, his infl-uence on Shelley was for a
comparatively lonfr period. 1/Vith a few exceptions Byron's poems
written in the summer of 1816 are the only ones which show any
appreciable influence of Vvordsworth. Wordsworth's influence on
Shelley, however, covers a period of eight years at least -
beginning with "Queen Mab" (1813) and continuing to "The Sensitive
Plant" (18^0).

John Keats (1795-1821)

Another great poet who wrote between 1800 and 1820 is John

Keats. George Brandos in his book, "Main Currents in 19th Century

Literature", states that Keats "turned his eyes steadily and

quite reverently on Wordsworth"^- It is very possible that he

did, for he wrote much about nature, considering her various

aspects as a true source of poetic inspiration. He asks:

"For what made the sage or poet write
But the fair Paradise of Nature's light?"-5H{-

Through his fam.iliarity with Wordsworth's poetry he undoubtedly

learned to appreciate more fully the external beauties of nature.

But Wordsworth was not interested primarily in her external

beauty* His feeling for nature was something deeper; he felt

the spiritual beauty of a universal soul in nature which was

perfectly attuned to man's. Keats was not a thoughtful poet.

There is to be found in his poetry no evidence of this deeper

feeling for nature which is the essence of V/ordsworth' s nature

philosophy. Keats rarely, if ever, suggests the presence - so

real and so full of awe to Wordsworth - of a mighty impulse and

* Brandes, George - "Main Currents in Nineteenth Century

Literature" P. 132

"I Stood Tiptoe upon a Little Hill"

.V

f

45.

everlasting purpose behind the life which is in living things,
Keats was a loving observer of nature, and caught those half-
hidden bits of magic which we seldom see;

"Here are sweet peas, on tiptoe for a flight
With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white.
And taper fingers catching at all things.
To bind them all about with tiny rings."*

He sees minnows in a brook:

how they ever wrestle
With their own sweet delight, and ever nestle
Their silver bellies on the pebbly sand."*-::-

He writes of

"The coming rausk-rose, full of dewy wine.
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves •"-«--»-«-

and of the spring -

"ViThile barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
And touch the stubble-plains v;ith rosy hue ; -JHr-JH?-

In passages such as these we see his reverence for nature's wonders

and his sensuous treatment of her e^cternal aspects. He himself

sums up his reactions to nature when he writes:

"But v;hen, 0 wells J thy roses came to me.
My sense with their deliciousness was f ill 'd.^HC-x-x-*

There should be noted, however, two poems, - the only ones
which I found- which might seem to show a more Wordsworthian
attitude toward nature. The first is a sonnet, "On the Grasshopper
and Cricket". The grasshopper, singing in the hottest part of
summer, and the cricket, chirping behind the stove in the winter-
time, carry on the continual song coming from nature;

"The poetry of earth is never dead;
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun.
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
Prom hedge to hedge about the nevr-raomi mead;"

* "I Stood Tiptoe upon a Little Hill"
Ibid

^h:-* "Ode to a Nightingale"

^Hr-JH^ Ibid.

■JW{-*-:Hj-lbid»

J

r

It might be asserted that the "poetry of earth" is a comprehensive
term and refers to a spiritual quality or soul running through
all nature. The assertion would probably be wrong. Keats, in
speaking of the "poetry of earth", is referring to definite and
tangible sounds, such as the chirping of the grasshopper and
the cricket. He is not concerned with any philosophical
considerations of the subject.

In two of the stanzas of "Endymlon" Keats speaks of the
influence of beautiful natural objects on the senses and the
soul of man!

"a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth.

Yes, in spite of all.

Some shape of beauty moves av/ay the pall
Prom our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon.
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
V/ith the green world they live in;" —

Nor do we merely feel these essences

For one short hour; no, even as the trees

That whisper round a temple become soon

Dear as the temple's self, so does the moon.

The passion poesy, glories infinite,

Ha\mt us till they become a cheering light

Unto our sould, and bound to us so fast

That, whether there be shine, or gloom overcast.

They always must be with us, or we die."

At first reading the thoughts here expressed sound like ?/ords-
worth's. After consideration, however, we see that it is not
nature which is influencing Keats, but the beauty of nature. With
Wordsworth it is an entirely different matter. Having seen daffo-
dils happily dancing in the breeze, Wordsworth goes home, and in
thinking over the experience feels a thrill of pleasure as his

*"Endymion--

47

heart dances with them# It is not, (as it is with Keats), the
abstract quality of beauty which the flowers possess that thrills
V/ordsworth; rather it is the sense of actual participation in
their ecstasy. He feels a sympathetic response to the innermost
soul of the flowers which Keats does not.

There can be found in Keats 's poetry, then, no indication of
a direct influence of Wordsworth's nature philosophy such as is
found in the works of Shelley and Byron. Keats' feeling for nature
is totally different from Wordsworth's. The sensuous appeal of
the external beauty of nature is to Keats all in all. He loves
beauty for itself; it delights his receptive senses until he becomes
drunk with nature's beauty; its expression in his poetry is an
ecstatic sensuous feast. Wordsworth's poetry, less rich in sense
impressions, is richer far in meaning. He finds a deep peace
in his spiritual communion with a nature that is not merely
beautiful, but tender, friendly, loving.

Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)
In considering some of the minor Romantic poets writing between
the years 1800 and 1820 we turn first to Leigh Hunt. He is
remembered now chiefly for his friendship with Byron and Keats,
and for his powerful influence over the latter. A more significant
fact for us is that he knew and liked V/ordsworth as a man, and
had the greatest of admiration for him as a poet. In his "Autobiogra-
phy" Hunt describes an unexpected visit from Wordsv/orth, and tells
of his own satisfaction at having a voliime of Wordsworth's poems
on a shelf next to Milton's. He goes on to tell of his enthusiasm

1

*

If'

)

for Wordsworth's poetry: "On reading him for mrself I became
such an admirer that Lord Byron accused me of making him popular
upon town"-"-

An appreciable part of Hunt's poetry deals with nature and

shows clearly that Hunt was sensitive to her charms. In his

sonnet "To John Keats" he says:

"Tis well you think me one of those.
Whose sense discerns the loveliness of things!!

Whence came this sensitiveness of perception? Was it the result

of his appreciation for Wordsworth's ideas on nature? In his

"Autobiography" Hunt says that he knew the glories of Nature

before he saw them pointed out by Wordsworth. In spite of this

statement it is probable that at least an added poignancy

was given to his nature experiences by familiarity with Yiiordsv;orth»

But this general observation is about as far as we can go. There

is no tangible evidence that Hunt was concerned with those peculiar

conceptions of nature which were so distinctly Wordsworth's.

His nearest approach to a Wordsworthian feeling for nature is to

be found in the sonnet already quoted - "To John Keats". In this

poem he shows a sympathetic understanding for the "things" of

nature- as they go their joyous way:

"Tis well you think me truly one of those.
Whose sense discerns the loveliness of things.
For surely as I feel the bird that sings
Behind the leaves, or dawn as it upgrows.
Or the rich bee rejoicing as he goes.
Or the glad issue of emerging spring" -

His feeling for the singing bird and for the bee is certainly in

the spirit of Wordsworth. But we feel that this mood is

transient and not deep-rooted and sustained as is Wordsworth's.

* "Autobiography"

>

r f j r '

It leads to no further philosophical concepts about nature - and
her meaning to man.

In "The Grasshopper and the Cricket" Hunt becomes slightly
more intimate with two of nature »3 children than is his wont; but
even so the feeling evinced for nature has very slight resemblance,
in any but a general way, to that of Wordsworth on the subject*
Hunt thinks of the grasshopper and the cricket as happy little
creatures whose sole object on earth is to sing their joyous songs»
That is all; they have no further significance either for man or
for nature.

For the most part Hunt considers nature objectively. He has

some beautiful lyrics in which the loveliness of the external

world are ably described* In "The Summer of 1818" he describes

the beauty and joyousness of summer and lightly advises mortals:

. " light your cheeks at nature, do.

And draw the whole world after you."

In some of the sonnets written in the years 1816-1818 (the period

in which he seems to have been most subject to the influence of

the external world) he deals largely with nature* Man is generally

shown surrounded by her beauties* The wisdom, calm, and love of

nature is portrayed, but still in an objective fashion* Hunt

feels no real spiritual bond between man and nature*

In the other poems in which he treats nature Hunt is still

more objective* He makes nature the background for human action*

His retelling of the old Paolo and Francesca romance in the

poem, "The Story of Rimini", is a good example* It is the wedding

morning, a joyous occasion* Consequently, to complete his happy

picture. Hunt feels constrained to paint a natural setting which

t

1

1

is in complete harmony with the events to follow* So he devotes
the first two stanzas of the poem to a detailed description of
a bright, sunshiny May morning; nature's
"Sicy, earth and sea.

Breathes like a bright-eyed face, that laughs out

openly.

»Tis Nature, full of spirits, waked and springing."*

After the first two stanzas nature is dropped and forgotten ijintll
in

he brings it/again to introduce Canto II. Here he describes evening
in the same manner that he has previously used for morning. In
both of these sections nature is considered as a unit in itself,
man as another. The poet deduces no philosophical significance
from nature; his nature is in the same category as bright clothes,
beautiful ladies, and prancing horses. It is exciting, has
pictorial value, but has no deeper meaning.

Other poems typical of this formal treatment of nature, v/hich
is characteristic of most of his poetry in which nature is
mentioned, are "Hero and Leander" and "Ballads of Robin Kood"
In these we have again the conventionalized nature descriptions
serving as background for the action. No consideration is given
nature for herself.

From our study of the possibility of Vfordsworth's influence
on Hunt we conclude: first, that a very fev/ of Hunt's poems show
a slight similarity of feeling to that of Wordsworth, a
similarity too indefinite, however, to show any direct influence;
second, that Hunt's feeling for nature as sho\7n in his other poems
is totally different from Wordsworth's- and consequently shows no
influence.

* "The Story of Rimini" Canto I

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Scott and Wordsworth first met in 1802. From that time
until Scott's death the two were the warmest of friends. Yet in
spite of their mutual respect and affection V/ordsv/orth wavedS
Scott *s poetry aside as trivial, and Scott looked askance at much
of Wordsworth's. Wordsworth considered Scott's poetry mere
rhymed stoi*y-telling, he thought it superficial and externgCl;
Scott, he said, "was not true to nature; his descriptions were
addressed to the ear, not to the ralnd»-5:- For his part Scott,
although he valiantly defended Wordsworth against the critics, was
forced to admit that he "differed from him in many points of
taste"*-"- Scott shows further his ov/n difference in feeling when
he says: "Why he will sometimes choose to crawl upon all-fo-ors,
v/hen God has given his so noble a countenance to lift to heaven,
I am (as) little able to account for----". Scott recognized Words-
worth's unusual imaginative power but felt that it carried him
into impossible extremes and tliat it was misdirected. In a letter
written in 1806 he comments on this point: "Vi^ere it not for the
unfortunate idea of forming a new school of poeti*y, these men
(Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey) are calculated to give it a
neii impulse; but I sometimes think they lose their energy in trying
to find, not a better but a different path from what has been
travelled by their predecessors"-::-"-;?-

So fascinated was Scott by the romance of antiquity that

he was but half satisfied in observing external beauties of the

universe which he could not connect with some legendary or histor-

<• From Rannie,- "Words.vorth and HisGircle"-p.245.
^A- Ibid,

Letter to Miss Sewell - 1806.

T

ical events* To feel really at home with nature he must be near

an old castle or field of battle. Scott recognized this fact

when he said: "The love of natural beauty, more especially when

combined with ancient ruins or remains of our fathers* piety and

splendour, became with me an insatiable passion"-;:- This tendency

in Scott is well illustrated in the follov/ing passage from "The

Lady of the Lake" James FitzJames, looking down from a promontory

upon the beautiful Loch Katrine, immediately reflects in this wise:

"V/hat a soene were here—
For princely pomp or churcliraan ' s pride I
On this hold brow a lordly tower;
In this soft vale a lady's bower;
On yonder meadow, far away
The turrets of a cloister grey'^ etc«-«-«-

The most beautiful and romantic of scenes was not enough in itself
for Scott, To satisfy him it must be peopled with the life of a
vanished age. Coleridge comments upon this difference between
Scott and himself. He says: "Dear Sir V/alter Scott and myself were
exact, but harmonious, opposites in this,- that every old ruin,
hill, river, or tree called up in his mind a host of historical
or autobiographical associations,- whereas, for myself- I believe
I should walk over the plain of Marathon without taking more
interest in it than in any other plain of similar f eatures'J-JS^-
Scott's imagination did not possess the reach nor breadth
of Wordsworth* s. Locality meant practically nothing to Wordsworth.
He cared little whether "LinesWritten in Early Spring" was set
in Grasmere or the Trosachs. To Scott locality was of the utmost
importance. In writing a story he felt that actual scenery of

Quoted from Beers, H. A. - "History of English Roraanticism-p.l5
"The Lady of the Lake", Canto I, stanza XV

^ "Table Talk"- August 11, 1833

an action was part of its life blood; If the setting were changed

the story failed* Hence we see in his poetry the attempt to make

an "inventory of nature's charms^-:?- which roused the wrath of

Wordsworth* One of the many examples of this "detailed

obtrusiveness" is the following from "The Lady of the Lake" in

which, it must be admitted, the external beauties of the natural

scenery are vividly, if wholly objectively, presented:

"Boon nature scattered, free and wild.
Each plant or flower, the mountain's child.
Here eglantine embalmed the air.
Hawthorn and hazel mingled there.
The primrose pale and violet flower
Found in each cliff a narrov/ bower;
Foxglove and nightshade, side by side.

Grouped their dark lines with every stain

The weather-beaten crags retain.

V/ith boughs that quaked at every breath.

Grey birch and aspen wept beneath;

Aloft, the ash and warrior oak

Cast anchor in the rifted rock;

Highest of all v/here white peaks glanced.

The summer heaven's delicious blue;"'5Hc-

Here we see that absolutely no spiritual meaning is given to

nature. Analysis of the passage shows that it contains nothing

but a cataloging of details which are made into an effective

picture by the poet's imaginative touches. In all of Scott's

other long narrative poems we find a similar handling of nature.

A short poem entitled "The Violet" furnishes further

illustration of Scott's treatment:

"The violet in her greenwood bower,

Where birchen boughs with hazels mingle.
May boast itself the fairost flower
In glen, or copse, or forest dingle.

* Quoted from Myers - "Wordsworth" p. 144
Canto I, lines 512-533

54.

Though fair her gems of azure hue.

Beneath the dewdrops weight reclining;
I»ve seen an eye of lovelier hue.

More sweet through wat'ry lustre shining.

The summer sun that dew shall dry

Ere yet the day be past its morrow.
Nor longer in my false love»s eye

Remained the tear of parting sorrow"

The violet in this poem is considered purely from the objective
point of view, A pretty picture of nature is painted - the
violet, greenwood bower, birchen boughs, hazels and all. But
the poet is little interested in the violet; his interest is
in his "false love's eye" from which the tears are so soon dried
after his departure. The violet is considered only for the sake
of comparison. Scott discovers no philosophical truth in the
violet - or in its surroundings; he attaches no moral significance
to its existence; he has no thought of the violet as being part
of the spiritual personality of nature.

It is unnecessary to point out further examples of the
wide divergence between Scott's treatment of nature and Wordsworth*
Scott's poetry shows a consideration for none of the spiritual
or philosophical conceptions of nature which are part and parcel
of Wordsworth's. As with Keats, Scott's eyes and ears may have
been sensitized to catch more completely the beauty of the
external universe, but his mind certainly was not stimulated
to philosophical contemplation by familiarity with Wordsworth's
nature poetry. His spell of nature is no less real than
Wordsworth's; but it is of a different kind. His is wrought
not mystically "but by sheer high heart and gallant spirit. In
hills and woods and streams he finds nothing 'far more deeply

55.

interfused*, no message from the informing soul of the world;
but he is inspired by the manifest, the obvious, the outward
beauty" -JC-

Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Prom their first meeting in 1796 Wordsworth and Robert
Southey were consistent and loyal friends. They lived from
1803 to 1843 but about fifteen miles apart, Wordsworth at
Grasmere and later at Rydal Mount, Southey at Keswick, and it
was not unusual for one of them to spend several days at a
time at the other *s home. After twenty years of proximity
Southey wrote of his friend: "in every relation of lifo, and
every point of view, Wordsworth is a truly e:xemplary and
admirable man"-:c-:s- But Southey did not merely respect and like
Wordsworth as a man; he had a most e:calted opinion of Wordsworth
as a poet. Rannie, in his discussion of Southey, states that
"None of Wordsworth's critics were quite as deliberately and
steadily admiring as Southey.^HHC- Southey himself expresses his
sincere enthusiasm for his friend's poetic ability when he says:
"l speak not from the partiality of friendship, nor because we
have been so absurdly held up as both writing upon one concerted
system of poetry, but with the most deliberate exercise of
impartial judgment whereof I am capable, when I declare my full
conviction that posterity will rank him with Milton" Fifteen
years later in discussing the same subject Southey shov/s that his
earlier judgment has not changed: "A greater poet than V/ordsworth

* Lang - Introduction to Poetical Works of Scott -Vol.I,p«XXX

Rannie - "Wordsworth and His Circle" - p. 115

Quoted from Rannie "WoEisworth and His Circle" - p. 115

I

56.

there never has been, nor ever will be. I could point out some
of his pieces which seem to be good for nothing, and not a few
faulty passages, but I know of no poet in any language who has
v;ritten so much that is good"

Southey, who with Wordsworth and Coleridge, made up that
famous triumvirate known as the Lake Poets, was one of the most
prolific \vriters in the English language, his poems alone filling
ten volumes. Of those written between 1798 and 1820 "Thalaba"
(1801), "Madoc" (1805), "Kehama" (1810), and "Roderick, the
Last of the Goths" (1814) are the outstanding. These four are
all long narratives on medieval or oriental subjects of a
legendary or historical origin. For the most part they are little
concerned with nature, although occasional nature passages of
power and beauty are to be found in them. Likewise, Southey* s
other poetry of this period rarely deals with this subject. V/hy,
we ask ourselves, does Southey evince such a comparatively slight
interest in nature? He lives amid her wonders; he is closely
associated with Wordsworth whose attention is continually fixed
on nature. Moreover, nature is one of the chief poetic themes of the
whole Romantic movement. The answer is to be found, I think,
in Southey »s poetic theories and in his exceptional learning.

Southey believes implicitly tliat novelty of theme was
essential to poetic success. This idea, of course, was one of
the fundamental tenets of Romanticism. Coleridge's "Ancient
Mariner" and "Christobel" , and Scott's exciting tales of the
Middle Ages are typical of this tendency. But Southey, in his
desire to attain novelty lost sight of the fact, so obvious to

> *

Wordsworth, that all nature is filled with novelty; simple trees,
flowers, and "birds have a freshness, a mystery to the observant
eye which is just as unusual as a tale about a Patagonian
chieftain, Southey's method of attaining novelty was to pick out
a strikingly strange theme, generally oriental, and to treat it
in a scholarly fashion, with great attention to refined expression
and skilful and unusual meter. These facts, -strange or out-
landish themes, painstaking attention to details of expression,
and extreme scholarship,- acco-unt for Southey*s comparatively
small interest in nature.

A few examples will suffice to allow us to compare Southey's
treatment of nature with Y/ordsworth' s# The first shov;s Southey's
occasional sensitiveness to nature, and his appreciation of the
fact that beautiful scenery can affect man's moods:

"Slow sunk the glorious sun, a roseate light
Spread o»er the forest from his lingering rays;
The glowing clouds. upon Gualberto»s sight
Softened in shade; he could not choose but gaze;
And now a placid grayness clad the heaven.
Save where the v/est retained the last green light of even.
Cool breathed the grateful air, and fresher now
The fragrance of the autumnal leaves arose;
The passing gale scarce moved the overhanging bough.
And not a sound disturbed the deep repose
Save when a falling leaf came fluttering by.
Save the near brooklet-stream that murmured quietly*
Is there who has not felt the deep delight.
The hush of soul, that scenes like this impart?
The heart that will not soften is not right" — -k-

We have in this passage a fine descriptive quality, evidence of

careful and appreciative observation of nature, A vivid, colorful

scene is portrayed, which, Southey feels, must influence the soul

of the normal observer. In a general way the thought of the

passage resembles Wordsworth; it bears a closer resemblance.

"st, C-ualberto" - stanza 36

however, to Cowpei*, whose Influence Southey later acknowledges.*
(not in respect to this one particular poem.) The physical
properties of nature are considered by Southey, ^'^st as they
have been by Cowper, and their soothing effect on man is remarked.
Wordsworth felt that the physical world of nature was merely
an outer covering for a unified and unifying soul of nature
which influences man through spiritual communion. Southeygives,
in our example, no hint that he is conscious of such a soul in
nature* A few lines from another poem shovt even more clearly the
essential differences between Southey »s and Wordsworth's
conception;

"(The river) Flowing where its summer voice
Makes the mouiitain herds rejoice;

Please the eye in every part.

Lull the ear, and sooth the heart ."^Hc-

The external accompaniments of the river - its appearance and

music - are the properties v/hich "sooth the heart" of man. It

is invested with no conscious spirit which communicates with man.

Another stanza illustrating Southey *s heartfelt reverence

for the beauty of nature is the following invocation to night:

"How beautiful is nighitl
A dewy freshness fills the silent air;
No mist obscures, nor cloud nor speck nor stain
Breaks the serene of heaven;
In full-orbed glory yonder moon divine
Rolls through the dark-blue depths.
Beneath her steady ray
The desert-circle spreads.

Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky.
How beautiful is night .

These exquisite lines, in the spirit of Collins* "Ode to Evening^

attest to Southey *s sensitiveness, but they certainly do not

* Southey - General Preface to Poetical Works - 18c7
^h:- "Lines V/ritten in the Album of Rotha Guillinanll
^j-** "Thalaba" - Book I, Stanza I

furnish evidence of Wordsworth' s influence- since similar feelings

have "been expressed before by countless poets.

As a final quotation we have another beautiful nature

description taken from "Roderick, the Last of the Goths" Of all

Southey's nature poetry in this period this approaches nearest to

Wordsworth's spiritual conception;

"How calmly, gliding througli the dark-blue sky.
The midnight moon ascends i Her placid beams.
Through thinly scattered leaves and boughs grotesque.
Mottle with mazy shades the orchard slope -

And there the glittering argentry

Ripples and glances on the confluent stream.

—-and ohl how awfully

Into that deep and tranquil firmam.ent

The siAmmits of Anseva rise serene I

Tile watchman on the battlements partakes

The stillness of the solemn hour; he feels

The silence of the earth, the endless sound

Of flowing water soothes him, and the stars-

V/hich in that brightest moonlight well-nigh quenched

Scarce visible, as in the utmost depth

Of yonder sapphire infinite, are seen -

Draw on, with elevating influence.

Toward eternity the attempered mind.

Musing on v/orlds beyond the grave he stands.

And to the virgin mother silently

Prefers her hymn of praise,"

There is still a wide gap between Southey's thinking and Wordsv/orth*

It is still merely objects, in this case mountain peaks, m.oonlight

and stars, which draw on the poet's mind to "elevated thottghts" He

does not express a definite belief in an all-inclusive soul of

nature* Wordsworth feels "a presence that disturbs him with the

joy of elevated thought s"-;^:- The "attempered mind" in Southey's

poem is drawn on by the "elevating influence" of natural phenomena.

But although not expressed, Southey does, it seems to me, catch a

* "Roderick, the Last of the Goths" - Canto XV
^h:- "Tin tern Abbey"

"breath of the pantheistic doctrine of Wordsworth, and of the
feeling that man is drawn by irresistible bonds to listen to
nature's inspiring voice. The similarity of feeling here observed
is so intangible, so much a matter of the individual reader's
reaction, that it cannot be cited as a definite example of
¥i/ordsworth»s influence •

There is, I feel certain, no justification for the belief
that Southey was to a noticeable degree, influenced by WordsY/orth»s
philosophy of nature. For one thing, Southey seems to have used
nature in his poems as little as possible. Very few of his short
poems deal primarily with nature, and in his long narrative poems
nature is sparingly employed, and then only as a necessary setting
for following action. In this latter respect he differs radically
from Scott, who delights in describing nature on all occasions, a
characteristic which is often irritating to the reader. If Southey
had been even a luke-warra disciple of Wordsworth, it seems that
he certainly would have shown a more consistent interest in
Wordsworth's chief consideration. In the second place, the
distinctive characteristics of V/ordsworth » s nature philosophy are
not to be found in Southey. Southey sees and feels the full glcry
of objective nature, he understands her power over man. But the
exalted intellectual concepts of Wordsworth, in which nature, in
detail and in general, is felt to be the embodiment and vehicle
of the \iniverse, in which nature is endowed with a mystical
personality, a hallowed unity embracing the soul of man, made,
apparently, no impression on Southey. As Rajinie remarks, "Southey

1

*

61.

perhaps never entered v;ordsworth» s world at any point"^^-

John Wilson (1785-1841)
^ According to Rannie, John V/ilson (Christopher North), and

Thomas DeQuincey were, of all the English poets and critics
living in the early 1800 *s, the two v/ho felt most immediately and
most strongly the true significance of "Lyrical Ballads"-:^-"* Carrie
Lowell in her interesting treatment of Wilson notes that: "Lyrical
Ballads", which made its appearance in 1798 when Wilson was a
student at Glasgow met with a cold reception by the general public
but a few discerning ones received it with enthusiasm, and Wilson
was one of these!i-:S"-«""- So enthusiastic, indeed, was Wilson upon
first reading "Lyrical Ballads" that he immediately addressed a
letter to Wordsv/orth in which he expressed his youthful admiration
for the volume, as well as a certain few "trivial" points of
criticism. Wilson's sympathetic appreciation for the true great-
ness of Wordsworth's poetry, particularly as it concerned nature,
is attested to in his more mature critical opinion expressed in
"An Hour's Talk on Poetry'j He says: "In describing external
nature as she is, no poet perhaps has excelled Wordsv/orth - not
even Thomson; in embuing her and making her pregnant with
spiritualities, till the mighty mother teems with 'beauty far
more beauteous' than she had ever rejoiced in till such communion -
^ he excels all the brotherhood. Therein lies his special glory,

and therein the immortal evidence of the might of his creative
imagination. All men at times muse on nature with a poet's eye;
but Wordsworth ever- and his soul has grown more and more

» Rannie "Wordsworth and His Circle"- p,93

Rannie - "Wordsv/orth and His Circle" - p. 250
Lowell, C.T. -"Christopher North and the Noctes Ambrosianae"-Chap. II

religious from such worship. Every rock, is an altar- every grove
a shrine"* This criticism is accurate and keen; its wisdom has
"been borne out by posterity. It is significant in that it shows
V/ilson»3 complete understanding of the peculiar expediencies of
Wordsworth* s nature doctrine.

In view of tho sustained enthusiasm for Wordsworth which
the above material has shown we turn to Wilson's poetry with some
degree of expectation. Should not this discipleship to Y/ordsv/orth,
which Rannie mentions as being (along with DeQuincey»s) the only
instances to be found in tho first quarter of the nineteenth
century, blossom forth in V/ilson's poeti*y?

Although, as Wilson observes, "all men at times muse on

nature with the poet's eyey** there can be no doubt but that

Wordsworth, by his insistence upon nature as a theme- and by his

glorification of her beauties, made many of his contemporaries

more aware of her reality than they otherwise would have been.

If ever a poet was sensitive to the glories of the external world

that poet was V/ilson, His poems continually deal with nature as

a theme; he is ever conscious of her presence, even when engaged

in such all-engrossing pursuits as hunting and fishing. The

artist appreciated this quality in Wilson when he drew an

illustration^H:-* for an edition of Wilson's poems. The poet is

depicted out hunting, astride a horse which is contentedly nibbling

grass, Wilson, gun over his shoulder, is gazing abstractedly at

his prey, (a small bird), which is sitting unalarmed on a branch

over the poet's head. V/ilson is obviously engrossed in a

"Recreations of Christopher North"
"Recreations of Christopher North"
^c-iHc "The Isle of Palms and Other Poems" - Frontispiece

contemplation of nature »s wonders; his soul is drinking in her
manifestations #

It seems certain to me that Wilson's attention v/as focussed
on nature by his early appreciation of "Lyrical Ballads'J Writing
in 1802 when he was seventeen years old he told \7ordsv/orth that
he valued "Lyrical Ballads" next to the Bible •^5- Furthermore I
believe that through his later friendship and close association
v.'ith Wordsworth his attention was kept in focus throughout the
rest of his life. There were undoubtedly others, as I have already
stated, who were influenced in this general way by V/ordsworth.
In some cases the evidence might be convincing; in the ma,^ority
it would probably be mere supposition. But in the case of Wilson
the evidence seems well-nigh conclusive*

When we consider the philosophy of Wilson's nature poetry
we instantly observe many similarities to that of Wordsworth.
In none of the poets which we have studied has there been such a
consistent spiritual and intellectual affinity with Wordsworth
as is to be found in Wilson. "The Isle of Palms and Other Poems"
was published in 1812, shortly after Wilson had moved to Elleray
on Lake Windemere. His house was only a few miles from Wordsworth's
and the two, already acquaintances, soon became close friends.
Undoubtedly these facts, as well as certain similarities which
were observed between this volume and the works of Wordsworth,
Coleridge, and Southey, led the critios to include Wilson in that
much derided circle known as the Lake Poets, However that may be,
it is certain that he was much more of a "Lakist" than either

■5S- "Letters of Christopher North".

Southey or Coloridge if spiritual agreement with, and adherence

to, certain poetic ideals e:xpounded by Wordsworth be the gauge*

"The Isle of Palms" shows less the influence of V/ordsworth

than other poems in the volume. To be sure the setting of the

story is wild nature, and the characters are lov/ly, and there is

an occasional couplet which strikes a V/ordsworthian note, such as

"And though opprest with heaviest grief
Prom Nature's bliss we draw relief"

But Wilson is writing a narrative poem and spends little time in

philosophizing.

In other poems contained in this volurae, however, we have

such an abundance of passages indicative of Wordsv/orth» s power

over Wilson that we can pick almost at random. In the following

lines from the poem, "My Cottage", a number of ideas about nature,

similar to those of Wordsworth are expressed:

The Summer air.

Whose glittering stillness sleeps within his soul.
Stirs with its own delight. The verdant earth.
Like beauty waking from a happy dream.
Lies smiling

Ever blest

The man who thus bohciis the golden chain
Linking his soul to outward Nature fair.
Pull of the livingGodl"

In the first stanza the poet conceives of the earth and air as being

infused with the spirit of happiness. Wordsworth has felt the

existence of this thrill of happiness which pervades nature - "the

voice of common pleasure"^-. In the second stanza Wilson touches

a familiar theme of Wordsworth, i.e, man and nature are spiritually

bound by indissoluble ties. The Living God existing in "outward

■/c "Poems on the Naming of Places" -I.

Nature fair" corresponds to V/ord s worth » s "presence"- or soil

pervading all nature. Here we have not merely the portrayal of

various objects of nature, but a consideration for the mystical

something running through them all, unifying then all, and giving

reality,?" to the whole.

The following extract from "Peace and Innocence" breathes the

mystical quality which is the spirit of Wordsworth' s nature

philosophy. The poet is describing the coming on of night:

"Almost could I believe v/ith life erabued
And hushed in dreams, this gentle solitude.
Look where I may, a tranquillizing soul
Breathes forth a life-like pleasure o'er the whole.
The shadows setting on the mountain's breast
Recline, as conscious of the hour of rest;
The sleepy trees are bending o'er the stream;
With soujndlike silence, motionlike repose.
My heart obeys the pov/er of earth and sky.
And 'mid the quiet slumbers quietly 1"

Here nature is endowed with that same spiritual quality which we

find in so much of Y/ordsworth' s nature poetry, and which has lifted

it from mediocrity to greatness. Wilson feels a presence, a soul

in solitude; this soul is omnipresent and all powerful. The

shadows, mountains, trees, streams, air, and even man are all

pleasantly conscious of its existence and all feel the tranquillizin

and unifying influence, of its presence.

Another poem, "The Hermitage", contains further concrete

points of resemblance. In this, man's commmiion with the spirit

of nature and his inspiration and moral help derived from her are

shown :

"stranger I I know thee not: yet since thy feet
Have wandered here, I deem that thou art one
Whose Heart doth love in silent communings
To walk with Nature, and from scenes like these

Of solemn sadness, to sublime thy soul
To high endurance of all earthly pains
Of mind or body; so that thou connect
With Nature's lovely and more lofty forms.
Congenial thoughts of grandeur or of grace
In moral being."

The dynamic power of nature, one of Wordsworth's favorite themes,
is treated in this poem. From corainunlon with nature man's soul
is strengthened to endure "all earthly pains of mind or body"
Man's mind and soul are purged by communication with nature; from
the fundamental morality which is part of her life man is
sublimated.

An unusual poem of V/ilson's is one having the prosaic title,

"The Angler's Tent" It contains an account of a fishing

expedition with a group of friends,- together with many powerful

descriptions of nature. Wilson apparently felt some diffidence

in writing this poem since one of the fishermen was Wordsworth.

"To thee, ray Wordsworth] whose inspired song
Comes forth in pomp from Nature's inner shrine.
To thee by birth-right such high themes belong.
The unseen grandeur of the earth is thine I
One lov/lier simple strain of huraan love be mine.

The above passage re-emphasizes the fact that Wordsworth is in 1812

a potent factor in Wilson's life, Ee recognizes Y/ordsv/orth as

the supreme authority on nature. Interspersed tlucoughout the

poem are a number of ideas concerning nature which are akin to

1/Vord s worth' s# With Wordsworth V/ilson feels the all-pervading

spirit of conscious love and happiness in nature: he feels her

soothing powers; he feels a sense of fellowship, of communion

between nature's soul and his own:

?

T

I

"Our hearts were open to the gracious love
Of nature, smiling like a happy bride;
So following the still impulse from above
Down the green slope we wind with airy glide.

All passions in our souls were lulled to sleep,
Ev*n by the power of Nature *s holy bliss;

We viewed the green earth with a loving look

Like us rejoicing in the gracious sky:

A voice came to us from the running brook

That seem'd to breathe a grateful melody.

Then all things seera'd embued with life and sense','

This feeling bears a striking resemblance to that in a poem of

Wordsworth *s already quoted, beginning;

"It was an April morning; fresh and clear
The rivulet, delighting in its strength
Ran v;ith a young man*s speed'.' -"-

Both poems describe the joyousness of nature in the springtime.

Wilson speaks of nature, "smiling like a happy bride", of the

earth "like us rejoicing in the gracious sky," of the brook

"breathing a grateful melody'i Wordsworth says:

"The spirit of enjoyment and desire.
And hopes and wishes, from all living things
Went circling, like a multitude of sounds'j

His stream too expresses joyousness:

"The stresurn, so ardent in its course before.
Sent forth such sallies of glad sound, that all
\''/hich I till then had heard appeared the voice
Of common pleasured

Both poets sense the conscious life in all nature. Wilson ex-
presses it definitely:

"Then all things seera»s embued with life and sense."
Wordsv/orth implies the something as he lists some of nature *s
creatures which seem to be expressing consciously their joy in
living.

"Poems on the Naming of Places" I.

And finally, there is an interesting analogy between the
voice of V/ilson*s brook and that of Wordsworth's stream. V/e feel
that the voice coming to Wilson from the running brook is really
the embodiment of nature *s spirit communing with him. Wordsworth
also hears the voice - which comes forth from the combination of
all of nature's articulations and seems to the poet "like the
wild growth, or like some natural produce of the air, that could not
cease to beU Both poets conceive of this voice as being the
spiritual expression of nature; both feel that through this medium
man and nature communicate. In each of these passages man is
shown as subject to the influencing of nature's mood; in each we
have, either expressed or by Implication, the doctrine of
pantheism. The marked similarity of thought which has been pointed
out in this and in other poems indicates clearly, I think,
Wordsworth's direct influence on Wilson.

1

CONCLUSION

In this paper I have attempted to determine v/hether or not
the doctrines of nature contained in Wordsworth's "Lyrical
Ballads" e^ferted any noticeable influence on the English poetry
written during the twenty years follov/ing the putlicatlon of
this volume. For the sake of clarity it was necessary first, to
study the attitude of Wordsworth's predecessors tov/ard nature;
second, to study Wordsworth's own attitude toward nature; and
third, to compare the two and see wherein Vifordsworth' s nature
philosophy differed from tliat of other English poets writing before
1798. As was to be e3?pected, the poets who indicated the most
marked Interest in wild nature were the Pre -Romanticists beginning
with James Thomson. It was found that almost without exception
these forerunners of Wordsworth e^^pressed ideas about nature which
are incorrectly held by the general poetry-reading public as being
peculiarly Wordsworth's. Thus Thomson expresses his love for
beautiful aspects of uncultivated scenes of nature; Collins
charmingly describes his rapture in the midst of nature's wonders;
Burns shows a tender and intimate regard for all of nature's
creatures, and derives moral lessons from them; Cowper sincerely
loves nature and recognizes her soothing influence over his spirit.
The finest and greatest phases of Wordsworth's nature philosophy,
however, attain heights far beyond and above these earlier
conceptions. Wordsworth carries on where they leave off. His
surpassing excellence lies in the fact that he imbues nature
with spirituality. He Invests her with a consciousness, a soul,
which is in continual coraraunion with man's, and he conceives of

all living things as being bound together by this soul into one
large brotherhood. None of his predecessors have sounded these
philosophical depths; they have been enthusiastically splashing
about on the surface.

Any influence which can rightly be called by that name, must
relate to this peculiar spiritual quality which Wordsworth's
nature poetry alone possesses up to the time of "Lyrical Ballads"©
With this fact in mind we have considered eight of the Romantic
poets; Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Hunt, Southey, Scott,
and Wilson.

Both external and internal evidence leads to the conclusion
that Coleridge, during the years 1800-1320, was little influenced
by Wordsworth's nature philosophy. In this time he wrote little
poetry about nature, and with one or two possible exceptions, what
he did write does not contain ideas similar to those instinctly
Wordsworthian. An explanation for this fact may be contained in a
letter (1820) in which Coleridge expressed his disapproval of
many features of Wordsworth's philosophy of nature.

In the case of Byron we find very definite evidence of
Wordsworth's influence. It is particularly noticeable in the Third
Canto of "Childe Harold". Here Byron accepts whole-heartedly
Wordsworth's belief in a unifying soul in nature, man's communion
with this soul and its consequent influence over his life. The
phrasing in "Childe Harold" is, in many instances, so similar to
Wordsworth's that there can be little doubt as to its source of
inspiration.

Shelley furnishes farther proof that Wordsworth's views
on nature did affect immediately at least some of his contemporaries©

In many poemss Shelley expresses his belief in the mystical
relationship between man and nature, in the existence of a single
spirit pervading all nature and transmitting influences to man.
It is plain that he is affected deeply by Wordsworth »s philosophy.

We can observe in Keats' poetry no direct influence from
Wordsworth. Keats is not an intellectual poet, and aoparently
absorbed none of Wordsworth's conceptions. Keats uses nature as
a medium for the reproducing of sensuous ex'periences. We can
but speculate as to whether or not Keats' perception of the
glories of the universe was sharpened by familiarity with Words-
worth. He certainly never manifests any appreciation for that
spiritual quality of nature which is characteristic of V/ords-
worth's conception*

Leigh Hunt, althougji extremely sensitive to nature's moods,
does not catch that higher spiritual significance which she holds
for Wordsworth. In Hunt's poems nature is generally treated
objectively; her beautiful aspects are described, and that is all«
Scott, too, treats nature almost wholly from the objective point
of view. He shows an appreciation of her lovelier features, but
he was usually so engrossed in the relics of the past that he
could not disassociate nature from these considerations. Neither
Hunt's nor Scott's nature poetry bears the mark of Wordsworth's
influence.

Robert Southey, like Hunt and Scott, had a partiality for
long narratives based on legend or history. Two of these poems,
"Thalaba" and "Roderick", the Last of the Goths", contain a
number of very effective nature pictures. In a passage from the

72.

latter, as I have pointed out, we catch a hint of V/ordsworth's
feeling for nature - hut it is only for an instant, and is in-
sufficient evidence for claiming influence. In the other long
narratives, and in his short poems, in which nature is treated
comparatively little, there is no indication of even a partial
discipleship to Wordsworth.

On John Wilson, the most obscure poet of those considered,
Wordsworth apparently e:xerted the greatest influence. V/ilson»s
poetry, mainly concerned with nature, is steeped in Wordsworthian
doctrine. Like Wordsworth he feols a soul pervading everything
in nature; he communes with this soul and is strengthened. He
feels the conscious spirit of love and happiness existing in all
of nature *s creatures and is infected by it. As I have pointed out
in my study of Wilson, sections of "The Anglers* Tent" are almost
parallel in thought and feeling to passages of Wordsworth* s first
poem "On the Naming of Places"*

It would seem that the eight Romantic poets whom I have
considered might be fairly representative of the whole Romantic
movement in English poetry. Although it would be dangerous to
draw any sweeping conclusions concerning Wordsworth's influence on
all English poetry written from 1800 to 1820 - based merely on the
poetry of these eight men,- still the study is bound to throw
some light on the question, "V/hat was the immediate effect of
"Lyrical Ballads"? From our investigation we see that two of
the major poets,- Byron and Shelley,- and one of the minor poets,
Wilson,- felt the power of V/ordsworth* s message so deeply that it
soon bore fruit in their own poetry. Tlie other five were apparently

little affected by Wordsworth* s genius. In noting the definite
stamp of Wordsworth's influence on three of the early Roroantic
poets we find substantiation for the belief, so often hinted at
English criticism, that "Lyrical Ballads" was the dynamic factor
responsible for moulding a new and improved nature philosophy
in the early years of the nineteenth century.

4'

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beatty, A«- William Wordsworth, His Doctrines and Art in their

Historical Relations, 2nd, ed., Madison, 1927.

Beers, H« A«- History of English Romanticism, Henry Holt & Co., 1901

Brandes, G«- Main Currents in 19th Century. Literature, Vol. IV,

W* Heinemann, 190 1-05 •

Brooke, S« - Naturalism in English Poetry, New York, E, P. Dutton

& Co., 1920.

Burns, Robert- Poetical Works, edited by Ale:>fander Smith, London,

1865, 2v. (Golden Treasury Series)

^-Byron, Lord - Complete Poetical Viforks of Lord Byron, Cambridge ed«

Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1905.

Cambridge History of English Literature.

Carswell, D.- Scott and His Circle, Doubleday, Doran Sc Co., 1930.

•5:-Cole ridge, S.T. Coleridge's Poetical Works, London, O^fford

University Press, 1927.

Coleridge, S.T.-Biographia Literaria, In Complete Works, Vol, III,

Harper & Bro., 1884.

^Collins, William - The Poems of William Collins, ed. by Walter

Bronson, Boston, Ginn & Co., 1898.

-"-Cowper, V/illiam - The Poetical Works of William Cowper, Complete

ed.. New York, Thomas Y. Crowell.

*Crabbe, George - Tlie Poetical Works of George Crabbe, London,

W. Scott, 1888«

Garrod, H. W. - Lectures and Essays, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1923.

Gray, Thomas - The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray, ed. by Henry

Reed, Philadelphia, H. C. Baird, 1853.

Griswold and Stoddard - Poets and Poetry of England in the 19th

Century, 2nd, ed., Philadelphia, Carey and Hart, 1845.

Hall, A. C. and Hurley, C. B. - Outlines of English Literature,

D.C. Heath & Co., 1930.

Halleck, R. P. - English Literature, American Book Co., 1900.

Harper, G.M, - William Wordsworth, His Life, Works, and Influence,

Herford,C.H. - The Age of \;ordsworth, London, G.Bell & Sons, 1901.

Eibliography

II

Hudson, W« - English Literature in the 19th Century, London, T*
Bell & Sons.

^s-Hunt, Leigh - Complete Poetical Works, O:xford University Press, 1923,
Hunt, Leigh - Autobiography, Button & Co,, 1903.

Hutton, R, H. - Sir Walter Scott, (English Men of Letters Series),
Harper & Bros., 1879.

■Jc-Keats, John - The Poetical Works of Jolm Keats, Oxford University

Press, 1926.

Knight, W. - Some 19th Century Scotchmen, Olliphant, Anderson &
Perrier, 1903.

Lockhart, J. G. - Memoirs of the Life os Sir Walter Scott, 5 vol.,
revised ed., Houpjhton, Mifflin & Co., 1920.

Long, W. J. - Outlines of English Literature, 3rd ed., Ginn & Co.,
1923.

Lowell, Carrie - Christopher North and the Noctes Arabrosianae,
Boston, John W. Luce & Co*, 1928.

Magnus, L. - Primer of Wordsworth v/ith a Critical Essay.

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London, Hutchinson & Co., 1892-97

Nasson, D. - Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats.

Palgrave, F.T« - Landscape in Poetry, London, MacMillan £: Co., 1897.

Palmer, George H. - Formative Types in English Poetry, Houghton,
Mifflin, & Co., 1918.

Payne, W. N. - The Greater English Poets of the 19th Century, H.
Holt & Co., 1909.

Raleigh, Sir Walter - V/ordsv/orth, London, Edward Arnold, 1921.

Rannie, D. W. - Wordsworth and His Circle, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1907.

-J^Scott, Sir Walter - Complete Poetical Viforks, Adam and Charles Black,

1895.

Scott, Sir Walter,- Familiar Letters of Sir Walter Scott, Hougliton,
Mifflin & Co. 1894.

Shairp, J.C.- Wordsworth as an Interpreter of Nature.

•K-Shelley, Percy Bysshe-- Poetical V/orks of Percy Bysshe Shelley,

revised ad,, by W.M.Rossetti, New York, Thomas
Crowell & Co., 1878.

X

Bibliography

III

Sneath, E. - Wordsworth, Poet of Nature and of Man, Ginn & Co., 1912.

Southey, Robert - Coir5)lete Poetical Works, 10 vol., Houghton,
Mifflin & Co., 1884.

Southey, Robert - Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey, ed#
by Rev. Charles Southey, Harper h Bros., 1851.

-x-Southey, Robert, - Poems, ed. by Edward Dowden, Macmlllan k Co., 1906.

Symons, A. - The Romantic Movement in English Poetry, Button Ic Co.,
1909.

-)5-Thomson, James - The Complete Poetical Works of James Thomson,

Oxford, H. Frowde, 1908.

-"-Wilson, John - The Isle of Palms and Other Poems, New York, James

Eastburn, 1812.

Wilson, John - Miscellanies.

^Wilson, John - Poems on Different Subjects, West and Richardson, 1813.

Wilson, John - Recreations of Christopher North, (Modem British

Essayists, vol, IV), Philadelphia, Carey and Hart, 1845.

Winchester, C. T. - William Wordsv;orth, How to Know Him, Bobbs
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Wordsworth, Dorothy - Journals, ed. by V\filliam Knight, Macmil]an
& Co., 1925.

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*Wordsworth, William - Lyrical Ballads, (Reprint of 1798 ed.),

Oxford University Press, 1924.

^-Young, Edward ^ Poetical Works of Edward Young, 2 vol., Houghton

Mifflin & Co., 1871.

1. Those,, books marked with an asterick (-«-) were studied "in
toto.

2. Those not marked were studied insofaras their contents
related to the subject of this paper*

#1